Catholic Outlook Magazine | Lent & Easter | 2024 Issue

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DIOCESE OF PARRAMATTA NEWS AND VIEWS
Seminarians prepare to ‘go out into the deep’ | How our communities celebrate Easter | Bishop Vincent’s Easter
message | Finding strength when we fall | Resurrection transforms all of God’s creation | Holy Week Mass times
Easter | Autumn 2024

Imprimatur and Publisher:
Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv
Bishop of Parramatta
(02) 8838 3400
PO Box 3066,
North Parramatta, NSW, 1750
bishop@parracatholic.org
www.catholicoutlook.org
Editor & Vicar for Communication:
Br Mark O’Connor FMS
(02) 8838 3400
PO Box 3066,
North Parramatta, NSW, 1750
comms@parracatholic.org
Head of Communications and
Engagement:
Anita Sulentic
Communications Consultant:
Antony Lawes
Senior Communications Officer:
Mary Brazell
Communications Assistant:
Jacob Gormley
Cover artwork
(L-R) Angela Rosero, Vanessa Mathew, Chadia Moussa
Kaminski and Lester Villanueva at Our Lady of the
Rosary Parish, Kellyville, with the 2024 Paschal candle.
Image: Diocese of Parramatta
Design:
Martin Zitricky
Nihil Obstat:
Fr Wim Hoekstra
Accounts:
Alfie Ramirez
(02) 8838 3437
alfie.ramirez@parracatholic.org
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IVE Group Australia Pty Ltd
An indigenous artwork at Catholic Care’s Aboriginal Services in Emerton. Image: Diocese of Parramatta
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© Diocese of Parramatta 2024
The Diocese of Parramatta reaffirms the
wise axiom attributed to Saint Augustine of
Hippo, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials,
freedom; in all things, charity.” In this spirit,
Catholic Outlook publishes a variety of
Catholic viewpoints. They are not necessarily
the official views of the Diocese of Parramatta.
Acknowledgement
of Country
Here in the Diocese of Parramatta, we gather on Country on
which members and Elders of the Darug and Gundungurra
communities and their forebears have been custodians for
many centuries and on which Aboriginal people have performed
age-old ceremonies of celebration, initiation and renewal. We
acknowledge their living culture and their unique role in the life
of the region.

A message from the Editor
Dear friends,
As we approach Easter 2024, we Catholics are all
invited to practise silence, deepen our interior
lives and pray for a Gospel change of heart.
In this issue of Catholic Outlook, we provide wonderful
reflective reading to assist you to do just that from Sr
Antonia Curtis OSB (page 42), Dr Laurie Woods (page
44) and Sr Patty Andrew OSU (page 48).
Most of us certainly need these kinds of spiritual
resources – because we Australian Catholics live in
a society where social media, 'shock jocks' and even
some of our political leaders actively promote noise,
chaos and division.
Far too often, ordinary people are easily manipulated
by conspiracy theories and phony conflicts – where
'opponents' have to be identified and then punished.
Everything can quickly become a 'culture war' issue
and victory means winning over others, especially
those scapegoated on the margins of our society.
For "Hospitality is the virtue which
allows us to break through the
narrowness of our own fears and to
open our houses to the stranger, with
the intuition that salvation comes to us
in the form of a tired traveller.”
We are indeed blessed in the Diocese of Parramatta
to have so many 'wounded healers' who live Gospel
hospitality in our midst – as this Easter | Autumn
issue of Catholic Outlook richly illustrates, with our
Cuppa with a Deacon (page 50) and parish profile
(page 52).
As we each stand at the foot of the Cross this Easter,
may we surrender our hearts and our wounds to our
Crucified Lord, for “by His wounds we are healed”.
Br Mark O’Connor FMS
Editor of Catholic Outlook & Vicar for Communications.
As American poet and essayist Christian Wiman
observes: “One grows so tired, in public life, of the
certitudes and platitudes, the megaphone mouths
and stadium praise, influencers and effluencers and
the whole tsunami of slop that comes pouring into
our lives like toxic sludge".
Easter is a season of faith (pages 22-25) when we
resist this slide to negativity – and instead become
reconcilers who nurture Christ's healing graciousness
and communion. So easily we forget that all human
beings are our sisters and brothers, loved and
cherished by Christ for eternity. We Catholics are not
'crusaders', and fighting 'enemies' is emphatically not
the way of our Crucified Lord.
That is why, as Prague pastor and theologian
Monsignor Tomáš Halík insists, “we are incapable of
believing in a God without wounds, a Church without
wounds…Can a faith that bears no stigmata, a faith
that cautiously avoids the Golgotha of our time, help
to heal a wounded world?” (page 14)
The priest theologian Henri Nouwen likewise wrote
that we become 'wounded healers', above all, when
we practice hospitality. That is the only cure for the
toxicity of our times – inside and outside the Church.
Crucifixion (1939) by Georges Rouault,
oil on canvas (1871-1958). Private Collection.
01

Excellence in
education
Our 80 great local Catholic schools are enrolling now.
Learn more parra.catholic.edu.au

PAGE 12
On the
PAGE 16
Inside
Easter | Autumn 2024
12 “The essence of Christian hope”: Bishop
Vincent’s Easter Message
16 A new Catholic describes what it will mean to
join the faith
34 Seminarians prepare to 'go out into the deep'
42 What it means to repent and stand naked
before God
52 We visit St Margaret Mary’s Parish in
Merrylands
PAGE 34
PAGE 42
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online – catholicoutlook.org.
Diocese of Parramatta
@parracatholic
PAGE 52
03

Outlook Looks
Tomáš Halík on searching for God
in a secular age
If you missed seeing the Czech theologian when he was
in Australia in February, you can still catch up on what
he had to say. Halík is known for being a leading voice
against Soviet communism in the 1980s and was
co-responsible for the revival of the Czech Catholic
Church after the fall of communism. He held a series
of talks in Parramatta and Melbourne on the topic of
searching for God in a secular age.
Turn to pages 14-15 for more from Monsignor Halík’s visit.
(L-R) Monsignor Tomáš Halík, Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, Bishop of
Parramatta, and moderator Fr Frank Brennan SJ during a public lecture at
St Patrick’s Cathedral Hall, Parramatta, in February 2024. Image: Diocese
of Parramatta.
Mass times over Holy Week
Is your Easter calendar filling up fast? Are you unsure
what times the Masses are on at your local Parish church
during Holy Week?
Turn to pages 58-61 for a full list of parish Mass and Liturgy
times across the Diocese.
Parish Priest Fr Christopher Shorrock OFM Conv (right) with
parishioners of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Kellyville, with the
2024 Paschal candle. Image: Diocese of Parramatta
Lunar New Year celebrations
On 10 February, members of our faith communities of East
and Southeast Asian heritage rang in the Year of the Dragon in
the celebrations of Lunar New Year. Also known as the Spring
Festival, the New Year celebrations are a time spent with family,
eating lots of food and sharing well-wishes for the coming year.
Go to Catholic Outlook online – catholicoutlook.org – for
stories about the event.
04
Lion dancers during the Lunar New Year celebrations of the Chinese
Catholic Chaplaincy of St Monica's Parish, North Parramatta.
Image: Diocese of Parramatta.

Outlook Looks
World Day of the Sick Mass
More than 200 people came together at St Patrick's
Church in Blacktown on 10 February to commemorate
World Day of the Sick, with a special Mass. Bishop
Vincent Long led the service, which included the
traditional Anointing of the Sick. This meaningful
ceremony was preceded by a thought-provoking
discussion led by Deacon Dr Michael Tan, exploring Pope
Francis' message for this year's observance.
Fr Paul Marshall anoints the forehead of a participant during the
Diocesan World Day of the Sick Mass at St Patrick’s Church, Blacktown.
Image: Diocese of Parramatta
Go to Catholic Outlook online – catholicoutlook.org – for
more about the event.
How seminarians prepare
for priestly life
For seminarians studying at the Holy Spirit Seminary in Harris
Park, learning to become a priest involves much more than being
well versed in the teachings of the Bible. As well as studying
theology, each is also learning to follow Jesus’ exhortation to “go
out into the deep” (Luke 5:4) and experience a world outside the
Diocese – an important part of their formation, in which they are
immersed in other countries, and cultures.
Turn to pages 34-35 for how you can support seminarians
prepare for priestly life.
Seminarians of the Diocese's Holy Spirit Seminary. Image: Diocese of Parramatta
Caritas launches Project
Compassion appeal
Caritas Australia has announced the launch of Project
Compassion 2024, its annual Lenten fundraising and
awareness appeal. For six weeks, schools, parishes,
organisations and individuals are encouraged to
donate, as well as walk, swim, cycle or run as part of
Caritas Ks, host their own events such as raffles or trivia
nights, or give something up for Lent. All in the name of
compassion in action.
Project Compassion hero Leaia at her home on the island of Upolu
in Samoa. Image: Laura Womersley/Caritas Australia.
To donate to the appeal, look out for the Project
Compassion donation boxes, visit the Caritas website,
or call 1800 024 413.
05

Together,
we can make a
difference now,
and For All Future
Generations.

Outlook Looks
LIFTED Leaders drive change
Catholic Youth Parramatta’s LIFTED series, a program
fostering connection and leadership among young
people, officially kicked off on 29 February at West HQ,
in Western Sydney. Bringing together young people from
diverse backgrounds within the Diocese of Parramatta,
this annual event provides a space for them to connect
and drive positive change in their communities.
Young people are seen during the 2023 LIFTED Launch at West HQ, Rooty Hill. Image: Diocese of Parramatta.
Beyond the Synod:
Towards a Diocesan Plan
In 2023, the Diocese of Parramatta
embarked on a historic journey with
our first Diocesan Synod, leading to the
affirmation of 24 resolutions that set
our path forward. We are now entering
an exciting phase: the development of
the Diocesan Plan for a Synodal Church.
The practice of synodality will continue
throughout the process with Think Tank
Sessions with local leaders. The Plan will
officially launch on 10 August 2024. Join
us in the next phase of our journey, as
we discern a new path forward for our
local Church in Western Sydney and the
Blue Mountains.
Learn more at parracatholic.org/synod
ADVERTISE WITH US
Reach families throughout Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains.
Catholic Outlook is the official magazine of the Diocese of Parramatta.
Contact Jacob Gormley on
0498 003 738 to place your ad.
07

WHAT'S ON
in the Diocese?
Pope’s Prayer Intentions
19 MARCH
The Solemnity of St Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed
Virgin Mary
24 MARCH
Palm Sunday
25 MARCH
Office of Tenebrae
St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta at 7.30pm
27 MARCH
Diocesan Chrism Mass
St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta, at 7pm
28 MARCH
Holy Thursday
29 MARCH
Good Friday
31 MARCH
Easter Sunday
6 APRIL
CYP At the Well Gathering for young women
Bishop Bede Heather Centre, Blacktown at 9.30am
eleanor.bonwick@parracatholic.org
8 APRIL
Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
STARTING 9 APRIL
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine
Training for new SRE Catechists
St Madeleine Sophie Barat Parish, Kenthurst
ccd.training@parracatholic.org
12 APRIL
Catholic Schools Term 1 concludes
16 APRIL
Feast of St Bernadette
STARTING 16 APRIL
MET FaithLIFE Theology Course
Bishop Bede Heather Centre, Blacktown, at 6.30pm
met@parracatholic.org
21 APRIL
World Day of Prayer for Vocations and Good
Shepherd Sunday
28 APRIL
CYP LIFTED Sports Day
eleanor.bonwick@parracatholic.org
29 APRIL
Catholic Schools Term 2 commences
2 MAY
CYP Duc in Altum Happy Hour
Networking gathering for those in youth ministry
eleanor.bonwick@parracatholic.org
STARTING 3 MAY
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine
Level 3 Training (Part 1)
A Study of John’s Gospel with Dr Laurie Woods
ccd.training@parracatholic.org
15 MAY
Diocesan Pentecost Scripture Reflection Evening
Bishop Bede Heather Centre, Blacktown, at 6.30pm
met@parracatholic.org
17 AND 19 MAY, 14 AND 16 JUNE
Pre-marriage preparation course
https://parracatholic.org/celebrate/marriage/
marriage-preparation/
STARTING 7 JUNE
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine
Level 3 Training (Part 2)
Journey of Faith with Merilyn Hancock
ccd.training@parracatholic.org
Find an event near you by visiting
parracatholic.org/connect/events
08

Pope’s Prayer Intentions
Each month, Pope Francis asks us to pray as a global community for his
great concerns for humanity and for the mission of the Church.
MARCH 2024 | For the new martyrs
We pray that those who risk their lives for the Gospel in various parts of the world
inflame the Church with their courage and missionary enthusiasm.
APRIL 2024 | For the role of women
We pray that the dignity and immense value of women be recognised in every culture,
and for the end of discrimination that they experience in different parts of the world.
MAY 2024 | For the formation of religious and seminarians
We pray that religious women and men, and seminarians, grow in their own vocations
through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be
credible witnesses to the Gospel.
Two women are seen embracing during the 2023
Diocesan World Day of Migrants and Refugees
Celebration. Image: Diocese of Parramatta.
09

10
Image: Diocese of Parramatta

Prayer for the
2025 Jubilee
Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity
and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation
of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee
reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread
the joy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed,
be glory and praise for ever.
Amen
11

Bishop Vincent’s
Easter Message
Dear sisters and brothers,
Once again, we are entering the most sacred,
grace-filled and transformative time in the
Church’s liturgy. The long and sombre Holy Week
ceremonies that culminates in the celebration of
Easter is a powerful re-enactment of the suffering,
death and resurrection of Jesus. Everything we
believe and hold dear is grounded in this paschal
mystery.
Easter gives us the meaning, strength and power
to transform the world in which we live. Easter
provides us with the horizons of hope within
which we strive for the full realisation of the reign
of God.
At the heart of the Easter message is the
summons to a new future against the background
of entrenched hopelessness. As with Mary and
the disciples, who were emboldened to move
from the shadows of crucifixion into the light of
the resurrection, the Church today must be a
pioneer leading humanity to new dawn of greater
justice, equality and fraternity.
We cannot be an inward-looking institution but a
missionary and prophetic community of disciples.
The God who raised Jesus from the dead leads us
beyond our limited horizons to a new future of
life to the full. This life to the full is not static or a
closed system but ever expanding and evolving.
In fact, the essence of Christian hope is contained
in the abundant life that Jesus brought about
through His death and resurrection. The whole
point of the Risen Christ is our human capacity
to become a new type of person who can do new
things for a new heaven and a new earth.
Hence, we must release ourselves from religious
individualism and confront the general religious
experience, which is cosmic and evolutionary, and
involve ourselves in the divine mandate of the
flourishing of the whole of life. Without bringing
these understandings into a new religious story
that animates our lives and focuses our energies
in a new direction, we will have diminished our
mission.
Easter is not merely about our own salvation
and the afterlife bliss. Easter is God conquering
the forces of evil and darkness. Easter is God
reconciling the estranged creation. We are called
to partner with God in bringing the victory of the
cosmic Christ to fulfilment. Easter, therefore,
obliges us to work for both personal and cosmic
transformation.
“Cosmic transformation” means working for
the community of life of which we are a part. It
means working for the whole of creation that God
created, sustains and destines for flourishing.
It means that we become a place where the poor
and the forgotten can be brought into a new
unity; a Church that advocates life at all costs and
promotes peaceful life in a war-torn and violent
world; a Church that models justice in an age of
greed, consumerism and power; a Church centred
on the risen Christ, empowering a consciousness
of the whole.
In the words of Pope Francis, let’s pray in Easter
2024 that the risen Jesus of Nazareth:
“May open us to the newness that transforms, to
the beautiful surprises of God. May he help us to
feel his presence as the one who is alive and at
work in our midst. And may he teach us each day,
dear brothers and sisters, not to look among the
dead for the Living One.”
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv
Bishop of Parramatta
12

CHRIST
IS RISEN!
The 2023 Palm Sunday celebrations at Corpus Christi
Parish, Cranebrook . Image: Diocese of Parramatta
13

Monsignor Tomáš Halík in conversation with Jesuit priest
Fr Frank Brennan at St Patrick’s Cathedral Hall, Parramatta.
Image: Diocese of Parramatta
‘UNDERGROUND’
PRIEST
visits Down Under
Czech theologian, philosopher and “underground
priest” Tomáš Halík visited Australia in February
as a guest of the Diocese of Parramatta, for a
series of public lectures and talks on the topic
“Help my unbelief: searching for God in a
secular age”.
A renowned public intellectual, Monsignor Halík
converted to Catholicism as an adult and was
secretly ordained a priest in 1978 during the
communist rule of then-Czechoslovakia. He is
known for being a leading voice against Soviet
communism in the 1980s and was co-responsible
for the revival of the Czech Catholic Church after
the fall of communism. In the years since, he
established an ‘academic parish’ in Prague and
baptised more than 3000 adults into the faith.
He has lectured widely around the world and
written many books, the most recent of which is
The Afternoon of Christianity: the courage to change.
In 2014, he was awarded the prestigious
Templeton Prize, which is presented to someone
who harnesses “the power of the sciences to
explore the deepest questions of the universe
and humankind’s place and purpose within it”.
Monsignor Halík spoke to hundreds of people
at St Patrick’s Cathedral Hall, Parramatta, on
Monday, 12 February, as part of the Bishop Vincent
Presents series of public lectures, at which he
spoke about the need for dialogue with those on
the margins, the “seekers” and so-called nonbelievers,
and need for the Church to broaden
the concept of Christianity. The conversation was
moderated by leading academic and priest, Fr
Frank Brennan SJ AO.
Go to YouTube to watch
the full conversation
14

Some of Tomáš Halík's
writings to meditate on
in the lead-up to Easter:
"We must not run away from the world’s
wounds nor turn our backs on them; we
must see them at least, touch them and
let them involve us. If I remain indifferent to them,
uninvolved, unwounded—how can I declare my faith
and love for God, whom I have not seen? Because at
that moment I really do not see Him! I have no right
to proclaim belief in God unless I take my neighbour’s
pain seriously. A faith that would close its eyes to
people’s suffering is simply an illusion."
"We should seek and find the Galilee of
today, and seek the transformed, living
Christ coming to us in different ways.
The Christian existence is an adventure to discover
Jesus in his anonymity and in new forms amongst the
non-believers, among the foreigners, the other. It is
our task to recognise Him in the wounds of Christ in
our world, otherwise, we have no right to say, like St
Thomas, ‘my Lord and my God’."
"I have visited and meditated in places
of present and past suffering—slums in
South America, Asia, and Africa, sites of
former communist and Nazi concentration camps,
and “Ground Zero” in Manhattan. I learned what
Dostoyevsky says in The Brothers Karamazov: “Bow
down, on all four sides of the world, deeply to the
great human suffering.”
Image: Supplied
15

RCIA candidate Cyrus Haddadi-Zuniga. Image: Diocese of Parramatta.
BY ANTONY LAWES
16

Easter is the most significant time in the
Catholic calendar, but for those about to join
the faith, it has extra meaning.
Cyrus Haddadi-Zuniga, 26, is about to become
a Catholic by completing the Rite of Christian
Initiation for Adults program (RCIA) through his
local parish. This program gives participants a
comprehensive understanding of the Catholic
faith and culminates in them receiving the
sacrament of Baptism at the Easter Vigil.
Cyrus says his parents – his mother is Catholic
and father was raised in the Muslim faith –
wanted him to explore his own path to faith
without pushing any one belief. “Letting God
guide me, really,” he says. Joining the program has
“fast-tracked my understanding of my faith and
has cemented where I want to lead my life moving
forward”, he says.
He credits his RCIA coordinator Annette Tan, and
Br Bernard Fonkalsrud OFM Conv, both from his
Parish, with making this path to Catholicism so
“enlightening” and “joyful”.
We asked Cyrus to tell us about his road to
becoming a Catholic this Easter.
What made you decide to become Catholic?
How has the RCIA course helped to solidify
your decision?
I have always maintained faith in a higher power
throughout my life and seen things occur through
my belief. My mother has always talked about
how significant God is in our lives, and to always
remember that things happen as He wills it. As I’ve
grown older and certain elements of my life are
becoming more imperative to me, taking the RCIA
route really opened my eyes and connected that
desire I have to navigate my life with a particular
religious compass that I stand by and resonate
with in the truest, loving way that I feel called
towards. I’ve been enjoying the learning process
about the Bible and the overall Church, as well
as getting closer to Jesus and gaining knowledge
about who He is and the lessons He’s taught and
is currently teaching us.
am looking forward to, and it feels right as I know
it’ll only bring me that much closer to God and
strengthen the faith I already have with Jesus.
What parish will you belong to?
I want to be part Our Lady of the Rosary Parish,
Kellyville, as I’ve formed fellowship with some
of the people who belong to that parish. It’s the
very parish that got me started on this amazing
journey of Catholicism, so it only makes sense to
choose that parish.
Have you been attending Mass at the parish
for a while?
I haven’t been attending Mass at this Parish for
too long, roughly over a year or so. Mass within
this Parish is so tranquil, and has a warmth that
invites those who are attending it to be present
and listen to what is being conveyed. Our priests
and friars are such welcoming people, and they
are always open to have a chat to enlighten us
and answer any questions we have.
Is there anything in particular that you are
looking forward to in this special Holy Week?
I personally feel as though being blessed and
having my Baptism take place is the biggest one
I’m looking forward to. Taking that next step
and embracing the Catholic faith in all its glory
with such a spiritually connecting ritual is such a
blessing to be a part of, and gives me plenty of joy
and excitement leading up to that period.
What will it mean to be able to finally call
yourself Catholic?
I don’t believe it’ll change much other than solidify
what I’ve already known - that God has always
been there. We just needed solitude to really
hear what He is saying. Above all, being able to
call myself Catholic will lay a foundation in which
my current family, and the family that is to come,
is grounded and paved so it’ll be easy to find
love and peace that lies within the presence and
acknowledgement of our God almighty.
How are you feeling about your decision now,
with Easter Vigil only a few weeks away?
Thinking about it makes me somewhat nervous
of what to expect. But at the same time there’s an
air of peace and joy knowing that I’ll be received
by Jesus through the endowment of the Holy
Spirit. It’s a beautiful experience that I sincerely
17

BY SR MARY LOUISE WALSH ISSM
explained
Here is a list of the liturgical events across the week and what happens at each one.
Check pages 58-61 for your local parish’s Holy Week Mass and Liturgy times.
Palm Sunday
Tenebrae
Chrism Mass
On Palm Sunday, palms are
blessed and our churches are
often decorated with palms.
This commemorates the
entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem
when palms were laid down by
the people as He entered the
town, before His arrest on Holy
Thursday.
Tenebrae is a reflection liturgy
with scripture, Psalm chanting
and motets. During the
liturgy, there is a progressive
extinguishing of candles and
darkening of the church. For
a brief time towards the end
of the service, the church is in
darkness, only to be startled
by a loud noise symbolising
the earthquake at the death
of Jesus. Afterwards, the single
candle representing Christ is
returned to the church and
restored to its place. All are
welcome to attend on Monday
25 March at St Patrick's
Cathedral at 7.30pm.
All the priests of the Diocese
gather to celebrate this
Mass, where they renew
their priestly vows. During
the Mass, the oils used for
sacramental rituals throughout
the Diocese are blessed and
consecrated. These oils are then
individually presented to parish
representatives at the end of
the Mass. All are welcome to
attend the Chrism Mass on
Wednesday 27 March at St
Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta,
from 7.30pm.
Holy Thursday
The Holy Thursday Mass, which we also refer to as the Mass of
the Lord’s Supper, focuses on the institution of the Eucharist.
Following the homily, the priest may wash the feet of twelve people
to symbolise how Christ led through service. Following the Mass,
the Blessed Sacrament will usually be taken from the tabernacle to
another place for adoration and then reservation.
18

Images: Diocese of Parramatta
GOOD FRIDAY Easter Vigil Easter Sunday
On the morning of Good
Friday, we pray the 14 Stations
of the Cross, spiritually
accompanying Jesus on his
journey to Golgotha. At 3pm on
Good Friday, the Celebration
of the Passion of Christ takes
place. Following this liturgy,
the crosses around the church
that were covered are now
uncovered.
If you are interested in joining the
Annual Good Friday Night Walk, an
overnight pilgrimage from Blacktown
to Parramatta with young people of the
Diocese, you need to register in advance
at parracatholic.org/events/cyp-goodfriday-night-walk/
The Easter Vigil takes place
after sunset on Holy Saturday,
and usually begins outside the
church around a small fire. Here
the Paschal candle is lit, and
everyone processes following
the candle into the dark church.
Baptismal candles for the next
12 months are lit from the flame
of the Paschal candle. It is at the
Easter Vigil that catechumens
joining the Catholic faith are
baptised and welcomed into the
community.
On Easter Sunday, we celebrate
Christ’s resurrection from
the dead and the new life He
gives us. The next 50 days
through to Pentecost Sunday
are celebrated in joy as ‘one
great Sunday’ and are known as
Easter Time, or Easter Tide.
Sr Mary Louise Walsh ISSM is the Liturgy Educator | Worship in the Mission Enhancement Team of the
Diocese of Parramatta.
19

FINDING STRENGTH
when we fall
BY JOHNATHAN SOOSAIPILLAI
As we journey through Lent, reflecting on
Christ’s journey to the Cross, we asked
Johnathan, a youth leader from St John XXIII
Parish, Glenwood-Stanhope Gardens, to reflect
on the Station of the Cross that resonates
most with him.
The Ninth Station – Jesus falls for the third
time.
Jesus’ journey to Golgotha was a tiresome and
gruesome one. Having been brutally whipped
before having the weight of the Cross placed
upon Him, Jesus would have been in a state of
agony beyond our comprehension. The Ninth
Station of the Cross encompasses this, having
fallen for the third time, I am reminded of the
weight of the burden that Jesus bore for us.
In trying to comprehend the trials that Jesus
suffered, I remind myself of the importance of
Jesus’ humanity in taking up the Cross. He willingly
accepted the plan of His Father, giving up His
divinity to walk amongst us. Jesus encompassed
perfection in the human form, with His body, soul
and mind aligned with God’s will for His life. He
endured what no human had and will again.
Within my life, I will never have to face a pain or
task as grave as Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Yet, we all
face our own struggles and hardships, and it’s
within these moments that I like to remember the
example that Jesus set for me. In falling for the
third time, most of us would consider giving up
and remaining on the ground. However, Jesus got
back up, He persevered and continued along the
hardest path of all because He knew He had to
fulfil God’s will for His life.
20

A depiction of the ninth station of the Stations of the Cross at the Sanctuary of Lourdes, France. Image: Mary Brazell/Diocese of Parramatta.
A Bible verse that I like to remind myself of
when I am struggling is John 13:7, in which Jesus says,
“you do not realise now what I am doing, but later you
will understand."
There have been periods in my recent life where I
have struggled to comprehend my purpose in life.
I have struggled to hear what God is calling me
to achieve with the life He has gifted me. I have
fallen much more than three times on the path
to fulfilling God’s will for me, and there have been
times where I would have preferred to stay down.
However, it was in those times that I turned to
God and was reminded to face my struggles with
a steadfast faith, knowing that God would not give
me more than I could handle.
In falling, but most importantly, getting back up
for the third time, Jesus embodied what you and I
must do within our own lives. Jesus reminds us to
find strength and grace in God, trusting His plan
for us in the midst of our own trials.
We all have our own hills to climb, and the path
may not always be easy, but like Jesus, we should
be reminded to be resilient and place our trust
in the Lord, as it is through Him that we will find
salvation.
A Bible verse that I like to remind myself of when
I am struggling is John 13:7, in which Jesus says,
“you do not realise now what I am doing, but
later you will understand.” This verse reminds
me to continue to be patient in my circumstance,
diligent to His word and to keep God at the
centre, regardless of what lies before me.
21

HOW WE CELEBRATE EASTER IN...
The Syro-Malabar Community
BY FR MATHEW AREEPLACKAL
The Syro-Malabar Church is one of the 23
autonomous Oriental/Eastern Catholic Churches
based in Kerala, India and in full communion
with the Apostolic See of Rome. It is the second
largest Oriental Catholic Church and is known
for its deep-rooted spirituality, and traces its
origins to St Thomas the Apostle, who arrived in
Kodungallur, Kerala, India, in 52AD.
Preparing for Easter starts with “the Great Lent”,
or Valiaya Nomb, a 50-day period. It begins on
Sunday at midnight, and the service of Ash on a
Monday. Ash Monday and Good Friday are the
days of obligatory fasting and abstinence.
Food plays a vital role in the Syro-Malabar
community, serving as a tool for passing down
faith and traditions. On the 41st day of Lent,
families prepare "Kozhukotta," a sweet rice
dumpling symbolising the fragrant nard used to
anoint Jesus before his passion. Maundy Thursday
night sees the preparation of the "Passover Meal,"
unleavened bread and a special drink, echoing
the Israelites' escape from Egypt and Jesus'
Last Supper with his disciples. These culinary
traditions weave a tangible connection between
past and present, faith and community.
For the Syro-Malabar faithful, Easter is not just
a single day of celebration. Palm Sunday marks
the beginning of a week dedicated to liturgical
observance. Families abstain from meat,
participate in church services, and engage in
spiritual reflection. The tender coconut leaves
received on Palm Sunday are a symbol of victory,
while Good Friday is marked by prayer, fasting,
and Stations of the Cross, allowing them to share
in Christ's suffering.
A deeply moving custom practiced for centuries is
the singing of "Puthen Paana," a ritual mourning
song. Sung after the Passover meal and Good
Friday services, it expresses the sorrow and
anguish of Mother Mary through the eyes of
the community, adding a profound emotional
dimension to the commemoration.
The culmination of this spiritual journey arrives
with the Easter Vigil. The candle procession,
symbolic knocking open of the church door,
and joyous shouts of "Hallelujah" announce the
resurrection. The exchange of greetings, "The
Messiah is risen!" and "Indeed the Messiah is
risen!" fills the air with a tangible sense of triumph
and hope.
The Syro-Malabar Easter traditions are more than
just cultural practices; they are a living testament
to faith and a powerful way of connecting with
the past. By immersing ourselves in the customs,
we gain a deeper understanding of the universal
message of Easter: a message of hope, renewal,
and the enduring power of faith.
The Syro-Malabar community in the Diocese of
Parramatta has grown with waves of migration,
bringing rich traditions and vibrant faith to our
new home. Established in 2009, the St Alphonsa
Mission has become a thriving hub for the
community, offering regular Masses, catechism
classes, and community gatherings.
Our unique Easter traditions serve as a reminder
of the universality of our faith and the power of
sharing cultural expressions within the broader
Church community.
Fr Mathew Areeplackal is the Chaplain to the
Syro-Malabar Community in the Diocese of Parramatta.
22

Good Shepherd Appeal
Members of the Syro-Malabar community. Images: Supplied
Support our seminarians to
“go out into the deep.”
Good Shepherd Appeal
Support our seminarians to
“go out into the deep.”
Help them cast their nets wide
to nurture faith and hope.
Your Lenten gift will support our future
priests to meet the spiritual and pastoral
needs of our community.
Help them cast their nets wide
to nurture faith and hope.
Your Lenten gift will support our future
priests to meet the spiritual and pastoral
needs of our community.
Make your
Donation
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Donation
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HOW WE CELEBRATE EASTER IN...
The Nigerian Catholic
Community
BY DR CHUKA OHAM AND STELLA NWOSU
Easter Vigil opens the Easter celebration for us, and for most Catholics. It begins with the service
of light, the Exsultet, the numerous readings from old and new testaments, the great Alleluia, the
Gloria with the ringing of the church bells again, the liturgy of the Eucharist, and the exclamations
and exchanges of Paschal greetings, and gifts. All these are ways the Church announces that the
tomb of Jesus is now empty, and that a new chapter has begun in the life of the Church.
Nigerian Catholic communities at home and abroad rejoice at the celebration of Easter because
they believe that Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the powers of darkness, has given us new
life and destroyed our old self.
Our Easter traditions
Members of the Nigerian Catholic Community.
Images: Supplied
24

Days before Easter we go to the local markets to
purchase food for the celebration. We buy new
clothes for our children to be worn on Easter Day.
Adults are also adorned in their best outfits for
the Easter celebration.
The celebration on Easter Day traditionally begins
with attending Mass. You’ll normally see families
together going to church and sitting together
in church, after which pleasantries and Easter
wishes are exchanged.
During this period, we would normally visit
extended families to celebrate the Risen Lord
with them. In celebrating Easter with family
and friends, we also would engage in multiple
activities including a display of masquerades and
feasting.
Easter season is also a wonderful opportunity
for our people to gather and raise funds for
certain community projects. It is also a good time
for family meetings to solve problems, and to
commemorate recent funerals.
cassava, with melon soup, vegetable soup, and okra
soup; pepper soup with goat meat or chicken meat;
jollof rice with assorted meat; and plantain porridge
with dry fish.
The most important part of Easter
Good Friday, an essential part of Easter, is a
day of sober reflection and thanksgiving for the
community as we join the global Catholic family in
commemorating the passion, crucifixion, and death
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We appreciate that on this
sorrowful yet joyful day, we are reconciled to the
love of God the Almighty Father.
The Exsultet is another important part of Easter
when the light in the Church is extinguished and the
Easter proclamation, which announces the victory
of the Risen Lord, is sung. The people hold their lit
candles, singing and dancing, especially when the
traditional Igbo-Abu-Oma-Exsultet is used.
Dr Chuka Oham is the Chairman of the Chaplaincy
Council and Stella Nwosu is the Liturgy Coordinator of the
Diocese's Nigerian Catholic Community.
Why these traditions are special
These traditions remind us that we are one
people of the community and it's a time that
brings everyone home to commune as a people.
Families come together to profess their faith in
the one God, and Risen Lord Jesus Christ. Families
also through their celebrations acknowledge
the redemption/salvation of humankind. Family
reunions also give the opportunity to reconnect
spiritually and socially. Such reunions strengthen
family bonds, and it is often a way to mend
broken relationships and restore peace.
Our Easter delicacies
Some of our special Easter food includes rice and
stew, with assorted meats including beef, chicken,
turkey and fish. There is also pounded yam or
How we say :
Happy Easter!
We would normally hug each other
and recount "ha-a-appy-y-y Eastee-er".
In our ‘WaZoBia’ languages
of Nigeria we may say: “Baraka
da Easter” in Hausa, or “Eku odun
Ajinde” in Yoruba, and “Anuri Mbilite
na-onwu Christi” in Igbo.
25

Twins highlight the importance
of school choice
Ameila and Isabella are excited to start their learning at St Margaret Mary’s
Primary, Merrylands. Image: CSPD/Supplied
BY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
PARRAMATTA DIOCESE
"We have had two
and three sets of
twins, but five is
extraordinary."
It’s a time of new beginnings, from our littlest
learners starting Kindergarten to those embarking
on their high school journey, and all their parents.
New classrooms, new routines, new friends, new
shoes!
At Good Shepherd Primary Plumpton, there was
triple the excitement as they welcomed three sets
of twins to their Kindy cohort. Zyron and Zekias,
Barkon and Yohanan along with Jasveen and
Kudrut instantly connected with their fellow twin
friends on the first day of school.
Sending one child off to school is a big moment
for any parent, let alone two! For the parents
of the twins at Good Shepherd, their choice of
school was a decision rooted in trust and a shared
commitment to values-based education.
"Good Shepherd offers good values, respect,
welcoming... all the sort of things I already teach
at home but to have that reinforced at school is
wonderful," said Zekias and Zyron’s mum Natalie.
26

"While there's been some tears through these
first few weeks, one of the big wins is picking
them up every afternoon and they've always got
huge smiles on their faces.”
For Barkon and Yohanan’s dad, Mesfin, the focus
is on the learning.
"Education is very important, and I think sending
the twins to Good Shepherd is worth it,” said
Mesfin. “They have very good teachers and also
learn lessons about the Bible."
Caroline Chisholm College, Glenmore Park welcomed five sets of twins
this year. Image: CSPD/Supplied
"As soon as they wake up in the morning, they
want to go straight to school," he said. "They love
their uniforms, they're making friends, and they
love each other so they're very happy at Good
Shepherd."
If three sets of twins is unique, five sets is
incredibly rare as was the case for Caroline
Chisholm College Glenmore Park this year!
Principal Tania Cairns welcomed each pair of
sisters into the Year 7 cohort excited about the
opportunities their secondary schooling will bring
to them individually and together.
For new Principal Grace Carlo-Stella, ensuring
all students and their parents feel confident and
supported by the school is a top priority.
“I always look after kids at school as if they’re my
own,” said Grace, who is a mum herself. “Trust that
teachers and staff know what we’re doing, that we
have the best interest of the kids at heart.”
“We have had two and three sets of twins but
five is extraordinary,” said Tania. “It’s very, very
special, especially in an all-girls school. Last year
we had identical twin captains, and they were
great role models, so I’m excited about what the
future holds for these girls.”
At St Margaret Mary’s Primary Merrylands, it’s a
busy time for mum Marina Raad. Not only are her
twins Amelia and Isabella starting Kindy, they also
have a new three-week-old baby brother.
“It's a new chapter for the girls and for us as a
family as well,” said Marina.
Good Shepherd Primary Plumpton excitedly welcomed its new cohort
of Kindergarten kids for 2024, including three sets of twins.
Image: CSPD/Supplied

Red
Mass
highlights
importance
of justice
The annual Red Mass traditionally marks the
beginning of the legal year, and judges, barristers,
politicians, and clergy, many in wigs and colourful
robes, filled Parramatta's St Patrick's Cathedral on
5 February for this year's event.
This centuries-old tradition, dating back to 1245 in
Paris, was first celebrated in Sydney in 1931 and
found a unique home in Parramatta in 2019 as
the only non-metropolitan diocese in Australia to
celebrate the Mass.
At this year’s Red Mass Bishop Vincent Long OFM
Conv, Bishop of Parramatta, emphasised the
importance of upholding justice and the rule of
law in challenging times, urging Christian wisdom
and integrity.
President of the Parramatta and District Law
Society Rebecca Hegarty, and Susan Carter MLC,
stressed the Red Mass's unifying role despite
diverse political views. Dr Hugh McDermott,
Parliamentary Secretary to the NSW Attorney
General, highlighted that the gathering “brings
together those who believe in social justice”.
The event served as a call to action for legal
professionals to work towards a better future,
while reminding everyone of their shared pursuit
of justice.
BY JACOB GORMLEY
Images: Diocese of Parramatta.
28

Celebrating
St Josephine
Bakhita’s legacy
On Sunday 11 February, Bishop Vincent Long OFM
Conv, Bishop of Parramatta, celebrated Mass for
the Sudanese community and their supporters
at St Patrick’s Church, Mary, Queen of the Family
Parish, Blacktown, in honour of St Josephine
Bakhita, the patron saint of victims of modern
slavery and human trafficking whose feast day is
on 8 February.
Children animated the Mass with dances during
the procession, offertory, and recessional hymn,
along with a choir joyfully adding to worship
through song.
During his homily, Bishop Vincent said that St
Josephine Bakhita “is proof that God can use the
most unlikely people to do extraordinary things”.
“Her legacy that transformation is possible
through suffering is written into the history of the
nation and the resilience of the people of South
Sudan,” he added.
Akok Deng Aleu, the Chairperson of the Sudanese
Australian Catholic Community, said it is through
St Bakhita that Sudan is still united, and it is this
unity that makes the community grow together
with others.
After the Diocesan Memorial Mass, the
community offered a tasting session of traditional
food as part of welcoming all and celebrating St
Josephine Bakhita.
Well
Well
rounded,
grounded
in in mission.
Images: Diocese of Parramatta.
acu.edu.au/mission
acu.edu.au/mission

Strengthening bonds
between school
and parish
BY CATHOLIC SCHOOLS PARRAMATTA
DIOCESE MISSION TEAM
Holy Spirit Primary School
St Clair has a close connection
with the Parish Priests of Holy
Spirit Parish, St Clair-Erskine
Park, which spans many years
and highlights the personal
and professional rewards of
partnerships between the
school and Parish.
Fr Jepser Bermudez OSA and
Fr Dave Austin OSA were
appointed as Parish Priests
at Holy Spirit at the beginning
of 2023. Both priests had a
previous connection with the
community, with Fr Jepser
serving as a deacon and Fr Dave
previously serving as the Parish
Priest. This year, they have been
joined by Fr Joseph Aresseril
Jacob, who goes by Fr Saju.
Principal of Holy Spirit Primary
Frances Garzaniti described the
relationship between school
and Parish as a strong one,
enhanced by opportunities to
collaborate in a meaningful way.
“Holy Spirit has been blessed
to have had a wonderful
relationship with the Parish
Priests for many years. In recent
times, the school has made a
concerted effort to build on
that relationship as it strives
to strengthen our community
spirit,” she said.
One such example is welcoming
Fr Jepser to the community.
With Holy Spirit being his first
parish, the school community
made sure to spend time
getting to know him.
Fr Jepser Bermudez OSA with students at Holy Spirit Primary School,
St Clair. Image: CSPD/Supplied
30

When the Augustinians
assumed leadership of the
Parish in 1995, they built on
the strong foundations of their
predecessors and fostered a
close, collaborative relationship
with the schools.
(L-R) Fr Dave Austin OSA, Fr Jepser Bermudez OSA and Fr Saju OSA from Holy Spirit Parish,
St Clair-Erskine Park. Image: CSPD/Supplied
Each grade was assigned to investigate a different
area of his life and invited to share what they had
learned with a special presentation and ‘Welcome
Wall’.
The Parish Priests of Holy Spirit have also played
an integral role in staff formation, which is
focused on the theme Sacrificial Love. As part of
this, Fr Jepser and Fr Dave recently shared their
insight into the Augustinian order with school
staff and explored how it connected to the
idea of using their gifts to serve. This included
participating and planning a variety of activities
throughout the staff formation day in partnership
with members of the CSPD Mission Team.
When asked about the significance of the
connection between the school and the parish, Fr
Dave and Fr Jepser said that the close relationship
goes back many years, in fact to the Parish’s
pioneering days when it was established in 1985,
and the cooperation with the founding pastor and
his successors, the Sisters of Mercy, and the local
community.
As a religious congregation,
the Augustinians brought
their charism of community
life and a variety of ministry
experiences to the Parish. Many
had a background in teaching
and school leadership and felt
‘at home’ in the school setting.
This educational experience
was enhanced by collaborative
opportunities to work with the
school in their commitment
to providing quality Catholic
Education for their community.
Both priests agree that at Holy Spirit Primary,
there is a strong personal and professional
relationship where school and parish work
together to provide positive experiences of liturgy
for the students and families, support for staff
and in-service opportunities. The priests are
always welcome at school assemblies and in the
staff room.
While they acknowledge that there is more scope
to engage with the broad spectrum of families
in schools, they say valuable opportunities to
encounter parents in a variety of settings - such
as parish and school liturgies, assemblies,
graduation ceremonies, sacramental programs,
and other pastoral contacts - are important in
strengthening the partnership and collaboration
of the Holy Spirit school and parish community.
Holy Spirit Primary opened in 1986, followed by
Emmaus Catholic College, Kemps Creek (1988),
and Trinity Primary School Kemps Creek (1993),
each led by the Sisters of Mercy.
Sections of a ‘Welcome Wall’ designed and researched by Holy Spirit
students to welcome Fr Jepser Bermudez OSA. Image: CSPD/Supplied
31

BY PROFESSOR JOANNA HOWE
In November 2023, the first National Catholic
Medical Association Conference was held in
the Diocese at St Joseph’s Conference Centre
in Baulkham Hills and brought together
medical professionals and religious from
across Australia to explore issues of life
and truth emerging in modern healthcare.
Professor Joanna Howe delivered the keynote
speech on “The pro-life cause now and into the
future”. Here is an excerpt.
For the first time in Australia’s history, we now
have wall-to-wall abortion up to birth and on
demand, which makes Australia’s abortion laws
the most extreme in the world.
In 2021, South Australia and the Northern
Territory became the last two jurisdictions to
adopt abortion up to birth, a legislative trend
which began in Victoria in 2008.
The abortion industry argues that late-term
abortion is rare and only happens because a baby
is going to die anyway. However, the evidence
does not support these two propositions. For
example, in Victoria between 2009 and 2020 there
have been 4186 babies who have lost their life
to late-term abortion. These gestationally viable
babies are unique, unrepeatable human beings
whose lives are arbitrarily and violently ended
through late-term abortion.
Proponents also maintain that late-term abortion
only accounts for 1-2% of abortions. But for me,
this doesn’t speak to the scarcity of late-term
abortion but the frequency of abortion overall in
Australia today.
There are now over 80,000 abortions every year in
Australia. Over a 10-year period, this is close to a
million lives lost to abortion.
It is also a myth that late-term abortion only
happens when a baby is going to die anyway.
In Victoria between 2009 and 2020 there were
1891 gestationally viable babies who had their
lives ended through late-term abortion who had
nothing wrong with them. In these cases both
the mother and baby were physically healthy,
and the abortion was recorded as being for a
‘psychosocial reason’.
A ‘psychosocial reason’ is an extremely broad
category that encompasses everything from
mental health to housing and work stress,
social disruption, bereavement and relationship
difficulties.
In fact, it is difficult to think of a reason for
abortion which does not, in some way, come
under the broad umbrella of ‘psychosocial
reason’.
In the first six months of abortion up to birth in
South Australia between July and December 2022,
there were eight gestationally viable and healthy
babies killed through a late-term abortion in a
non-emergency situation. These were elective
abortions that should never have been allowed.
These eight babies could have been induced alive
and given medical care.
32

Image: Unsplash
Given that an abortion after 22 weeks and six
days requires a mother to deliver her stillborn
child vaginally, there is a clear opportunity here
to require that child to be induced alive rather
than dead. Such an approach respects the human
rights of both mother and child.
The other thing abortion proponents love to say
is that abortion up to birth is a misleading term
and never happens in practice. But again the data
exposes the opposite. For example, in Victoria
in 2011 a healthy baby who was in the womb of
a physically healthy mother had her life ended
through abortion at 37 weeks.
but to inspire a new generation to rise up and fight
for the human rights and safety of our children.
Ultimately the tide will only turn against abortion up
to birth in Australia when we change people’s hearts
and minds, and we elect politicians who stand up for
the human rights of babies in the womb.
Dr Joanna Howe is a Professor of Law and former Rhodes
Scholar. She is an expert in and has consulted widely on
migration and workplace law to the Australian government
and private industry and has authored three books. Follow
her on Facebook and Instagram @drjoannahowe, and to
receive her weekly newsletter, sign up at
www.drjoannahowe.com/join
37 weeks is full term. Over a quarter of babies are
born between 37 and 38 weeks. My own son was
born at 37 weeks' gestation. This is not an issue
on which we can afford to stay silent.
For me, abortion is the human rights challenge
facing our generation. There is no other human
rights abuse in our world today which involves the
violent and arbitrary destruction of human life on
this scale.
It was in 2021 when my home state of South
Australia introduced abortion up to birth that I
felt a stirring to speak up. Although I was afraid of
the implications for my career, my mortgage and
the safety of my family, I knew I could no longer
be silent. Since then, I have launched social media
accounts and a website to educate Australians
and advocate for abortion law reform. My goal is
not to bulldoze people on the issue of abortion

Seminarians of the Holy Spirit Seminary, Harris Park, (back row L-R) Luke Huynh, Jose Valentine Lim, Jeffrey Hood and Macky Amores;
and (front row L-R) Jason Irawan, Paul Tran and Menard Gaspi. Image: Diocese of Parramatta
PREPARING SEMINARIANS TO
AND NURTURE FAITH
BY ANTONY LAWES
BY ANTONY LAWES
For Menard Gaspi and Macky Amores, who are
both studying at the Holy Spirit Seminary in Harris
Park, learning to become a Catholic priest involves
so much more than being well versed in the
teachings of the Bible.
As well as studying theology, each is also learning
to follow Jesus’ exhortation to “go out into
the deep” (Luke 5:4) and experience a world
outside the Diocese – an important part of their
formation, in which they are immersed in other
countries, and cultures.
This is helping prepare our seminarians for
priestly life where ministering to a congregation
means being aware of each parishioner’s
individual faith journey and knowing how best to
meet their needs so they can continue to grow in
their relationship with God.
For Menard, this was brought into focus during
a two-month immersion in Central Australia in
2023. Organised by the Holy Spirit Seminary and
The Divine Word Missionaries in Alice Springs,
the trip exposed Menard to Australia’s outback
geography, culture, hospital ministry, and pastoral
care for the many Indigenous communitiesin the
region.
34

Menard said the experience was “so much more
than I’d expected or hoped for”.
“I believe the best preparation for
anything in life is to go in with an open
mind and an open heart.”
Menard Gaspi
“Be willing to get involved, listen to the people and
respect their space and their stories.”
He said this trip broadened his horizons and
showed him how his own preconceptions and
biases could affect the way that he did ministry.
“Going to the Northern Territory, getting involved
with the people, and actually getting to know
them and their background, their art, and their
culture, helped me to get in touch with each
person.
“People will always have different ways of growing
and different needs, and a priest should be open
to that.
“I believe that the more you know your flock, the
better you can help them cultivate their faith and
create a Christian life that can flourish.”
Menard and Macky were also fortunate to attend
World Youth Day in Lisbon in 2023, where they
got to meet young people from all over the world.
Menard said this coming together of so many
peoples of faith from so many different countries
had a profound effect on him.
“As a young person with faith you can sometimes
feel alone or in a minority. But going to World
Youth Day was very encouraging to witness
millions of people from all over the world sharing
the same faith.”
He said it reminded him of the diversity of
cultures in Australia, and how a priest needed to
recognise this diversity, but that “bringing
Diocese of Parramatta seminarians Menard Gaspi (right), and Macky Amores
during the World Youth Day pilgrimage in 2023. Image: Diocese of Parramatta.
everyone together under the umbrella of our faith
and humanity goes beyond culture”.
Macky’s experience of World Youth Day was
similarly energising for his faith.
He found that everyone there was eager to be
involved in the experience. And during the many
long walks, he found himself talking to others.
“We had a common goal to be with Christ and
experience His presence in the company of one
another.
“As someone with a shy personality, I found
myself talking to strangers and having positive
experiences. Now I’m more comfortable
approaching people in my Parish placement at St
Mary of the Cross MacKillop Parish, Upper Blue
Mountains.
“This newfound confidence is a great change for
me and has given me the ability to take the first
step in approaching others."
Support our seminarians
to “go out into the deep”
To make your donation please call (02) 8838 3482, or visit:
yourcatholicfoundation.org.au/appeal-shepherd
35

BY ANTONY LAWES
CAUTION: This story contains references to suicide and
grief.
As we prepare ourselves for Holy Week, there are some in our
community who understand better than most the suffering that
Jesus endured, but also how out of darkness and tragedy can
come some form of personal resurrection.
Tony and Barbara* are one such couple.
Members of the Diocese for more than 40 years, their youngest
son died by suicide 15 years ago. Since then they have been
on a long spiritual journey back from the deep despair and
abandonment they felt at the time of his death, to a point now
where they feel more than ever supported by, and involved in,
their Catholic faith.
Nevertheless they say this journey is ongoing: nothing can
make up for the loss they have suffered; and they are still
pushing the Church for better spiritual support for loved ones
affected by suicide.
This is part of their mission to make sure that in the future
other families in the same situation don’t suffer as they did.
They have also set up a bursary that funds a PhD student in the
field of schizophrenia research, which their son suffered from.
Tony says this journey has made him more able to question
God and be angry at God, but also be a more compassionate
person, and someone ultimately strengthened by his faith.
36

“My son’s death has brought me back to being an involved
Catholic,” he says. “I now feel more comfortable in myself, and a
lot of my religious beliefs are stronger now.”
He says he was never good at praying - “my prayers are my
thoughts” - and in the early years he attended support groups
run by Wesley Mission and The Salvation Army, and private
counselling through his employer, all of which he says were
“excellent” and “very comforting”. The missing piece was the
spiritual healing he felt he needed, but which he says the Catholic
Church was unable to provide in a coordinated way.
“I wanted to be able to talk about this in a spiritual context,”
he says. “The Church was not good at dealing with this. Sure, if
your husband dies there’s grief counselling for that, but not for
anything else.”
Now after years of struggle he feels able to question his faith just
as Jesus did on the Cross when He cried out: “My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me”.
“Jesus was walking with us
on our journey every step of
the way, and still is.”
“If He can say that, I can say it to Him,” Tony
says.
For Barbara, grief “slowly settled in” around
her until finally, she says, she felt she had
to make a choice: “Walk away from faith or
persist.” But the longer she persisted, the
more she realised it was not a choice.
“Through the deep despair, darkness, hopelessness, consuming
grief and searching – slowly, slowly we came to understand that
in fact we were not going through this by ourselves,” she says.
“Jesus was walking with us on our journey every step of the way,
and still is.”
*Names have been changed.
If this article has raised issues for you,
you can contact Catholic Care on (02) 8843 2500,
Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14, or Beyond Blue at
www.beyondblue.org.au
37

Image: Noah Buscher
BY DR SEBASTIAN SALASKE-LENTERN
38

Every year at Easter, I can only marvel at the
great gift of Jesus’ resurrection and how our
Risen Lord is able to transform our lives in His
gentle and loving way. Until a few years ago, I
only saw this mystery at work in the lives of us
humans. However, I have come to learn that
the resurrection transforms not just the fate
of humanity, but of God’s entire creation.
According to the Gospel of John, God’s eternal
Word, God’s Son, becomes incarnate in Jesus of
Nazareth to save the entire world (John 3:16-17),
including but by no means limited to humankind.
This is the same Son through whom all created
things come into being (John 1:1-4) in the power
of the Holy Spirit.
In his books Jesus and the Cosmos (JC) and Ecology
at the Heart of Faith (EHF), the late Australian
theologian Monsignor Denis Edwards builds on
the theology of the great Karl Rahner when he
explains that in the incarnation, the “dynamic
creative power of divine being is radically united”
not only with the specific human being Jesus of
Nazareth, but through Him “with all of creation”
(JC p. 131).
In his death, Jesus hands the entire created
world into the mystery God. And finally in the
resurrection, “God adopts creaturely reality as
God’s own reality”, which Rahner interprets as the
embryonic onset of the divinisation of the entire
cosmos (EHF p. 87). Jesus becomes “in his very
humanity, what he had always been in his [divine]
dignity, the innermost centre of creation” (JC p.
131).
This means, as Pope Francis explains, that “the
creatures of this world no longer appear to us
under merely natural guise because the risen
One is mysteriously holding them to himself and
directing them towards fullness as their end”
(Laudato Si’ no. 100).
Such a view of the resurrection, according to
which our Risen Lord is present to us in even
the tiniest part of the world around us, which
He gently transforms from within, can give us
motivation and hope for one of the greatest tasks
humanity has ever faced: healing the damage we
have done to our planet and learning to live in
harmony with God’s creation.
While this task can seem overwhelming, we can
trust that it will lead us into a deeper communion
not only with God’s creation but with Jesus Christ
himself. And we can trust that our “effort to build
a world of justice and ecological integrity” cannot
be in vain, as it “will be taken up and transformed
in Christ” (EHF p. 91).
Find out how you can get involved in the care
for God’s creation in your local community
or the wider Diocese of Parramatta at
parracatholic.org/laudatosi
Dr Sebastian Salaske-Lentern is the Peace, Justice and
Ecology Coordinator for the Diocese of Parramatta and a
member of the Mission Enhancement Team (MET).
“At the end, we will find ourselves face to
face with the infinite beauty of God (cf. 1 Cor
13:12), and be able to read with admiration
and happiness the mystery of the universe,
which with us will share in unending plenitude.
Even now we are journeying towards
the sabbath of eternity, the new Jerusalem,
towards our common home in heaven. Jesus
says: “I make all things new” (Rev 21:5).
Eternal life will be a shared experience of
awe, in which each creature, resplendently
transfigured, will take its rightful place and
have something to give those poor men and
women who will have been liberated once
and for all.”
Pope Francis – Laudato Si’ , no. 243.
Image: Riccardo De Luca, Shutterstock
39

Image: Shutterstock
40

Looking Deeper
Albert Schweitzer
41

REPENTANCE
leads to the silence of surrender
BY SR ANTONIA CURTIS OSB
The Father’s forgiveness, by Daniel Bonnell
Lent has been a part of my life for years, yet it has never taken me
to the depths I am experiencing this year. It is not that I have been
lax in participating in the Sacrament of Reconciliation; in the past…
quite the opposite. I avail myself of every opportunity to confess
and then experience the inpouring of the grace of His love, which
gifts me with such peace and joy.
However, this year things are profoundly different. There is a depth
and clarity, of both insight and feeling, around my own sinfulness.
Sins of the past, already confessed have shown themselves in a new
light… which makes me much more aware of the hidden depths of
the selfishness and self-centredness of those actions or words.
42

It is not simply the action itself that has been
sinful, but also the hidden motives, attitudes,
feelings that drives it. SEEING this gives me joy,
even as I cringe in shame. I am so grateful for the
gift of insight and repentance that God is pouring
into my heart.
This experience has made me ponder a little.
What is repentance I have been asking myself?
And does it differ from confession? I can see
that it is very possible to confess the outer
manifestation of the sin, and to be very sincere in
my declaration of sorrow and need of forgiveness.
However, I have learnt that repentance requires a
depth of heart response as well. It’s hard going!
“Repentance happens
gradually over long
years of wrestlings that
are a descent for us,
like peeling back layers
of an onion. This is selfknowing
that gradually
takes us deeper and
deeper in the heart.
We go down into the
heart’s secret recesses and hidden crevices, like
going even further into a labyrinth of caverns. We
are not shown the deeper evil in us initially, but
only as repentance grows do we come, steadily, to
the starkest truth about the falsity our heart is in
thrall to, and even worshipped as an idol. Only in
the deeper journey do we face the harm we have
done to others, and to our self,” - Jamie Moran,
The Wound of Existence.
Where has all of this taken me? To silence. Not
really the silence where there is absence of words
so much as a silence which comes as I sink into
God’s ‘rest’… the silence of peace, the silence
of surrender.
The motto I took at the time of my being clothed
in the monastic habit, and which was written on
my vow paper five years later, is “Deep is calling
on Deep” (Psalm 41:8). How little I knew at that
time just how far this commitment would take
me. What I have experienced is God (grace)
calling out an invitation to me to say ‘yes’ to the
unknown. And myself wavering. It’s very scary to
feel such a sense of fragility and of powerlessness
when we hear that call. It takes courage to be
prepared to say ‘yes’.
The question we all need to ask
ourselves this Lent is: Am I prepared
to take the plunge into deep
waters where the hidden attitudes
and prejudices that energise my
sinfulness, come from?
I can see as I look back that there were times of
denial and times of willingness for me. Denial led
to stalemate and a false sense of security, and if
I am honest, perhaps smugness at times. Selfrighteousness
is a powerful tool for denying the
truth of who we really are… to ourselves and
to others.
So I guess the question we all need to ask
ourselves this Lent is: Am I prepared to take
the plunge into deep waters where the hidden
attitudes and prejudices that energise my
sinfulness, come from? Am I prepared to turn
around and stand naked before God… and indeed
myself? Do I have the courage to allow him to
“wash me more and
more from my guilt
and cleanse me from
my sins?” (Psalm 50:1).
Nakedness is the issue
isn’t it? Adam and Eve
hid from God because
they were naked.
Physical nakedness is
scary enough but to
bare one’s soul, even to ourselves let alone God
and another human being, is terrifying. What I
have seen and come to know that in truth there
is no need to hide our nakedness before him or
from others. He will always receive us with open
arms. And we have to be prepared, when we
speak to another human being that acceptance
may not be forthcoming; to be prepared that
perhaps I might meet rejection. The very fact of
admitting one’s culpability brings great peace.
After all, didn’t Jesus tell us that truth will set us
free?
Gratitude fills and spills over from my heart
because I have experienced Him cleansing me
from my sin and anointing me with the purest
oil and so:
"My cup runneth over."
(Psalm 22:5)
Sr Antonia Curtis OSB is a member of the Order of St
Benedict (OSB), currently residing at the Benedictine
Abbey in Jamberoo, NSW. This reflection was originally
published on the Jamberoo Abbey website on 18 March
2020. Republished with permission.
43

Image: Shutterstock
CARRYING OUR
Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that when
Jesus was led out to be crucified, the soldiers
of the governor compelled Simon, a passer-by,
to carry the wooden crossbeam on which Jesus
was to be hung. The evangelists drew on the
notion of carrying the cross as a metaphor for
paying the price of being a disciple of Jesus. In
its original context, Jesus is asking us to deny
ourselves and face the cost of following Him.
But there is another practical consideration
involved in carrying our cross. There are times
when we are hammered by undeserved suffering
and we pray for release – or even some respite
– and it never comes. What then? We may well
have made the mistake of expecting that God
would ‘do it my way’. We might surrender to total
disenchantment and loss of faith, or we might
find a new kind of hope in acceptance.
The book of Job wrestles with the ‘why’ of human
suffering and concludes that suffering just is – we
have no answers. But we can make a response
in the face of suffering. Mere endurance is not
a helpful response, but suffering can make us
realise our vulnerability and our prayer can be
not so much for deliverance as for acceptance; for
the serenity to carry that cross with a measure of
calm and peace.
If I am a disciple of Christ, I need to put myself
into perspective. As a follower of Jesus, how do I
deny myself? What is He asking? We are familiar
with the idea of self-mortification through putting
up with difficulties and sickness or by fasting or
giving up something for Lent. These are all good,
but they are not what Jesus had in mind.
Denying myself is not about undervaluing myself
as an unworthy sinner. It is about priorities. It
means I accept myself and realise that I have to
put Jesus and His values first in my life. Self and
selfish concerns have to take a back seat. With
this realisation, I resolve to live a wholehearted
life following Christ’s values as I strive to become
the quality human being I am called to be. This
is what Jesus meant when he said, “I came that
they might have life, and have it to the full” (John
10:10).
So many of the crosses we bear are self-imposed
because of our misplaced priorities and values.
The fullness of life that is important to Jesus
eliminates self-imposed crosses by using common
sense strategies, such as cultivating gratitude,
truly naming and using our gifts and blessings,
avoiding making comparisons, letting go of what
other people think, and allowing other people to
be who they are.
44

“They compelled
a passer-by…
to carry his cross”
Mark 15:21
CROSSBY DR LAURIE WOODS
We can aim for growth to maturity by practising a
habit of looking for the good in others. When we
see Christ in the people we meet, we are always
ready to reach out in simple ways – a smile, a
cheery ‘hello’, a helping hand, being company to
walk with others. While we are carrying our cross,
we can gain perspective by seeing that what we
are going through is part of our journey. We can
strive to get outside
of self and reach out
to others. Living like
this, we become one
with Christ. Notice
how Jesus drew
crowds, not only
through the charisma
of His person and His down-to-earth wisdom but
noticeably by the way He valued people so that
they felt connected to Him.
Consider this question, ‘Was Jesus fulfilled; was
he happy doing what he was doing?’ We can
confidently say, ‘yes’ because he had spent 40
days in retreat carefully working out the cost of
answering the call to be prophet and teacher.
His complete trust in the God He called Father
and His focus on important priorities enabled
Him to set out wholeheartedly on this journey
knowing He would face strong criticism and
It means I accept myself and realise
that I have to put Jesus and His
values first in my life. Self and selfish
concerns have to take a back seat.
life-threatening opposition. And even when He
knew at the end that death was only hours away,
how did He cope with that stress and dread? He
reached out to others; He washed the feet of His
friends as a sign of His relationship with them.
This was how He poured out the love that defined
His connection with these precious human beings.
His way of carrying His
cross was not to give in
to self-pity, but simply to
carry on accepting what
is, with a constructive
outlook and profound
confidence in the eternal
Presence. He could even
beg forgiveness for His tormentors realising that
they were not really aware of what they were
doing. This kind of attitude can only come from
those who have grown to a level of personal and
spiritual maturity that enables them to carry their
cross with wholeness and generosity.
It's not about endurance. It’s about being positive
in living out the values and priorities of Christ.
Dr Laurie Woods is a retired senior lecturer in Biblical
Studies from the Australian Catholic University and
currently conducts teacher in-service sessions and parish
reflection days. He lives in the Diocese of Parramatta and
is a member of Our Lady of the Nativity Parish, Lawson.
45

BY BR MARK O’CONNOR FMS
Let me keep my
distance, always,
from those
who think they have
the answers.
Let me keep
company always
with those who say
‘Look!’ and laugh in
astonishment,
and bow their heads.
Mary Oliver, from ‘Mysteries,
Yes’ in Evidence: Poems.
In the Gospel of Mark, the Resurrection takes
place in silence!
Mark's Gospel ends in an extraordinarily enigmatic
fashion. It states that after discovering Jesus' tomb
to be open and empty and hearing the angelic
message about the resurrection and a coming
rendezvous with the risen Jesus in Galilee, the three
women fled in astonishment: "and said nothing to
anyone for they were afraid". (Mark 16:8)
Image: Shutterstock
46

In Matthew's account there is an earthquake,
a flash of lightning as a mighty angel descends
and the heavy stone is rolled back with force, the
crash of armour as the frightened guards fall to
the ground.
But in Mark, there is none of this. Instead, there
is silence. There is almost something modest
and ordinary about it. There was a quiet, with a
stillness that only love and fear can create.
It is very understandable that many in the early
Church had difficulty with this ‘silence’ of Mark.
The ending was too sharp and abrupt. How could
the Resurrection, which had begun in fear, not
end in joy? How could it end in silence and even
fear?
Maybe, we too, can agree with their puzzlement.
But perhaps Mark is suggesting that resurrection
faith must always include an aspect of
questioning. For the Easter mystery is so dazzling;
it is beyond our rational comprehension and
liberating beyond even our wildest dreams!
Mark's key message then is clear and full of hope.
The appearances of the risen Christ also take
place through us. The story of the Risen Jesus is
incomplete until it is completed in us. For as St
Teresa of Ávila prayed: "Christ has no body now
on earth but yours.”
As we ‘break bread’ for the life of
others, we encounter the Risen Jesus
in the amazing explosive victory of the
God of Life that we call Resurrection.
Even in the silence of our lives and especially in
difficult lonely times, Jesus of Nazareth is still with
us.
"He rose in silence."
Br Mark O’Connor FMS is the Vicar for Communications in
the Diocese of Parramatta and the Editor of Catholic Outlook.
Indeed, Dominican Herbert McCabe was fond of
saying that: God is not the answer. Rather, God is
the question!
For our God is above all, a mystery. The word
“God” is actually a label for something we do not
know. A mystery is not a problem. A problem
is a puzzle to which techniques can be applied,
intuition brought to bear, and a solution found.
Science tackles problems. It’s great at it. But a
mystery is not amenable to that strategy. And our
faith life is littered with mystery.
So, listen again to the mysterious words of the
young martyr at the entrance to the empty tomb
in the Marcan narrative: “He is going ahead of you
into Galilee”.
The angel is effectively telling us: “You will find
Him when you refuse to allow His death to be
final; when you make His work live, He will live
with you. You will find Him when you go on to
whatever is your Galilee.”
And yes, 2024 is our ‘Galilee’ now, as we cope with
a world convulsed with fear.

Jesus’ journey leads us to
the ‘heart of light’
BY SR PATTY ANDREW OSU
The Resurrection, by Jen Norton
At the end of the 19th Century the famous
novel, “The Heart of Darkness” by Joseph
Conrad was published. Its stark title captures
in an extreme way human corruptibility, and
the darkness such a desperate state contains.
In complete contrast to this tragic human
narrative, Jesus through His resurrection,
transcends what appears to be an inevitable
spiralling into darkness. The human journey
made by Jesus through all the forces of darkness
– betrayal, torture, suffering, and death – led
Him to the “Heart of Light”, experienced in His
Resurrection.
This triumph of light over the forces of darkness
and despair in the pit of human suffering, is as St
Paul reminds us, the cornerstone of our Christian
faith (1 Cor 15:14).
In all our human searching, especially in and
through our relationships, the motivating force
which fuels our quest, is to get to the heart of
things. There is a restlessness in the human heart
which keeps us probing, seeking, searching. St
Augustine in the 5th Century captured this deep
longing in his words, “our hearts are made for you
O Lord and they are restless until they find their
rest in you”.
48

This movement of the human heart is threefold –
upwards, outwards, and inwards.
While all the accounts of the Resurrection are
described in physical places and time, they are
essentially capturing profound experiences
of the heart born from deep grief and loss.
Furthermore, such experiences are not material
things which one can cling to and hold tightly to
oneself. Instead, in these Resurrection narratives,
we witness in the disciples an overflow of the
heart, with an impulse to share and gather more
people into their experiences of hope. Even in
their diversity of contexts, all the accounts of the
Resurrection speak of hearts being surprised and
awakened. When the Emmaus disciples recall
their encounter with the Risen Jesus, they exclaim
“Did not our hearts burn within as he walked
with us on the road”. (Luke 24:32). Such “burning
within” is a way of capturing and re-kindling the
hope which transforms the despair experienced
in darkness and loss.
Easter and our world in 2024
Throughout our Liturgical year and particularly in
this season of Easter, we read and contemplate
the accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus. So
how does this pivotal event of our Christian faith
which occurred historically over 2,000 years ago,
continue to give meaning to each of our lives
in this early part of the 21st Century? Almost
daily we witness, “the extensions of Christ’s
body” being crucified through torture, bombing,
homelessness, and exploitation, in so many parts
of our fragile world. There are many times when
watching graphic television reporting from war
zones we feel we are gazing into the “heart of
darkness”.
What is our Christian response to such global
pain and darkness? In discerning this, it may
help us to recall the words of the poet Gerard
Manly Hopkins when, in one of his poems he
uses the word, “easter” as a verb – a doing word!
This alerts us to the twofold nature of Easter.
In remembering and celebrating this pivotal
historical event, we open ourselves to the rising
of life from death, happening in the heart of our
present day lived experiences.
As with the first witnesses to the Resurrection
of Jesus, we are invited to allow ourselves to
be surprised by the touches of the Risen Jesus
within our human experiences. It is good to
remember that the first Easter was experienced
in the ordinary events of one’s life; having a meal,
walking along a beach, being in the garden, even
in the workplace of fishing! Furthermore, it is
obvious that the Risen Lord transcends human
boundaries imposed by space and time.
The Easter narrative is our human/divine story.
We are called to live it every day as we radiate
light flowing from the gift of grace in both the
ordinary and extraordinary events of our lives.
Such a way of being, enables the Resurrected
Christ to “easter” in us. It is in the daily rhythm of
our own “living and dying” that Christ rises.
May we continue to commit ourselves to journey
into the “heart of light”, keeping our focus on
Jesus, the one who in taking flesh, makes his
home with us; and who, “the darkness can never
overpower” (John 1:5).
Sr Patty Andrew osu is the Vicar for Consecrated Life in
the Diocese of Parramatta.
49

CUPPA WITH A DEACON
Deacon Roderick (Rod) Pirotta
Pastoral Director, Sacred Heart Parish, Mount Druitt South
BY MARY BRAZELL
Deacon Roderick (Rod) Pirotta has just
celebrated his fifth anniversary of ordination
to the permanent diaconate and shows no
signs of slowing down.
Growing up in Malta as the fourth of six children,
Deacon Rod entered religious life with the Jesuits
in his hometown of Naxxar at aged 21 with the
intention of becoming a Jesuit brother, rather
than a Jesuit priest.
Leaving the Jesuits and his beloved homeland
behind, Deacon Rod began his next vocational
calling to nursing. He studied for four years in
Dublin, Ireland, and lived and worked in England
before arriving in Australia in 1991, where he
specialised in mental health and dementia care
for the elderly for 35 years.
When his mother passed away in 2012, Deacon
Rod had a “mid-life crisis” (at aged 50) where the
spark of vocation returned, and it led him to the
permanent diaconate.
“As a religious brother, I felt that I was called
to a vocation that was ‘behind the scenes’, not
being ‘front of stage’, and as a deacon, I feel
comfortable in this supportive role to the priest
and community,” he said.
“I feel that priests have a vocation of
taking us to Heaven, but as a deacon, I
have a role of bringing Heaven to Earth
and experiencing Heaven on Earth in
what we do, through our devotions and
how we express our love for Christ.”
In February 2019, alongside three other men,
Deacon Rod was ordained to the diaconate at St
Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta.
‘Bringing Heaven to Earth’ in Mt
Druitt South
He has been Pastoral Director at Sacred Heart
Parish, Mount Druitt South, for close to two-anda-half
years.
“I have brought all of my life’s skills, gifts and
talents that God has given me into this role – 35
years of nursing, 30 years of marriage, 20 years of
supervision of nurses, many years of counselling
and teaching, eight years of religious community
life – and I use them every single day in how to
run the parish,” he said.
Deacon Rod is honest in his sharing of some of
the challenges he faced of coming into the parish
whose parish priest – the late Fr Carl Ashton – had
just retired after 43 years in ministry.
But as he settles in, he can see a shift in people’s
perspectives and sees a new vibrancy emerging.
“In a way, I feel that I am returning the parish to
the people. One parish priest told me, ‘it’s not
your parish, it’s their parish’.
“Being pastoral director is an all-in-one role and
I love all of it. I get great encouragement when
people say, ‘you’re doing a great job, Deacon Rod.
Keep going’.
“I thank God for a core group of people in the
parish that whatever you ask of them, they’ll go
and do it, and those parishioners who contribute
50

Deacon Roderick (Rod) Pirotta with his wife Kathryn Fitzgibbon at Sacred Heart Parish, Mt Druitt South. Image: Diocese of Parramatta.
financially to the parish. I’m also grateful for the
Samoan Catholic Community, the Legion of Mary,
the Neocatechumenal Way, the Handmaids of the
Lord and the Young Adult Faith Formation group
who are a huge gift to the parish.
“I like preparing liturgies and preparing the
environment of the Church for the liturgies.
I’ve introduced things like the singing of the
Divine Mercy chaplet every month, and on Holy
Saturday, I introduced the Liturgy of the Hours,
which parishioners hadn’t experienced before.
“We’ve established a beautiful relationship with
the Sacred Heart primary school and now the
students come every week for Mass or when they
have a religion lesson, they come to the church to
learn. The kids know us very well now.
“We’ve also seen the resurgence of young families
coming to Mass and asking for the sacraments
for their children. The Church is getting fuller and
fuller."
Honouring his partner in ministry
As much as Deacon Rod does in his ministry, he
couldn’t have done it without the loving support
of his wife, Kathryn Fitzgibbon. Together they
celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary in
November.
“We share the decision-making, the experiences,
the successes and the disappointments in the
ministry, and she often spends a few hours a
week helping me at the parish as well.”
Contemplation in action
When asked about where he felt called in his
ministry in 2024, Deacon Rod hoped that the
parish continues to strive to be welcoming, not
just in words, but in action.
“As we approach Easter, we need to remember
not to separate the Passion from the Resurrection
of Christ because there’s no joy without that
sacrifice.
"If we don’t put our faith and devotions
into our daily lives in loving our
neighbour or serving our communities,
we’re not bringing Heaven to Earth.
“If the mark of my time at the parish is
encouraging people to live contemplation in
action, as the Jesuits describe, and people’s faith
pushes them to go out and do something, then I’d
be very happy.”
“One of the beautiful joys of the ministry as
a couple is the witness that we give to the
parishioners,” he said.
51

Assistant Priest Fr Jeremy Santoso OSPPE with members
of the Pauline Junior youth group at St Margaret Mary’s
Parish, Merrylands. Image: Supplied.
PARISH PROFILE
St Margaret Mary’s Parish, Merrylands
- ‘all here to serve God’-
BY MARY BRAZELL
During the peak of the COVID lockdown, when we
were only allowed to travel within our local area,
Alexandra Azzi and her family started going to
Mass at St Margaret Mary’s Parish, Merrylands,
when services were held outside due to church
buildings being closed.
With the difficulties that many Catholics faced
during the lockdown, it was the community that
kept Alexandra coming back.
“I fell in love with the parish, the people and the
priests that were here and we couldn’t leave,” she
said.
The passion and compassion of the parish and
its parishioners is something that long-term
parishioner Tony Bougoide is grateful for.
“I appreciate this parish as being a multicultural
parish that bridges all different nationalities and
languages and cultures,” he said.
“It’s a community that has common values,
principles and spiritual values, above all.
“We are all equal in the eyes of God,
so we try and maintain that standard,
and that’s what makes our community
down to earth.
“I’m practically retired, and I’m glad to be retiring
in this environment, because I still feel that I am
contributing in the most valuable way, because
anything to do with serving Christ and enhancing
our Catholic community is a joy.”
Sacramental Coordinator and parishioner of 10
years, Monique Kairouz, agrees.
“Once you enter this parish, you don’t want to
leave. You can’t pull yourself away from this
community.
“I grew up in the area and moved away from the
parish when I got married. But when we moved
back to the area, it was just natural that I came
back here.
“The way that the Pauline Fathers [Order of St
Paul the First Hermit] conduct themselves, the
way they celebrate Mass and the Sacraments, you
just feel like you’re in heaven.”
Pauline charism a ‘drawcard’
The Pauline Fathers have been caretakers of
the parish since 2012. Alongside their monastic
charisms of obedience, poverty and chastity, they
“thrive” in the sacramental life of the parish.
“Celebrating Mass, preaching a homily that
enforces Church teachings and being able to
52

hear the confessions of parishioners are very
important to us,” Assistant Priest Fr Jeremy
Santoso OSPPE said.
“What we do in the parish sacramentally is for the
good of the faith and the good of the soul.”
The emphasis on the sacraments is a true
blessing for the parishioners.
“In the parish, there are a lot more devotions,
novenas and rosaries being prayed by different
groups at different times,” Tony said.
“Here, you feel an urge to meditate and pray,
because they provide that atmosphere of prayer
and a state of grace and peace.”
A bright future with new pastors
The parish’s current pastors – Parish Priest Fr
Wojciech Sliwa OSPPE and Fr Jeremy – have
served in the parish for just over one year and
are already being lovingly embraced by the
community.
“Fr Wojciech is a true pastor – extremely
approachable, very fun loving, nurturing, and
accommodating and is comfortable in saying ‘no’
when he needs to, like a father,” Monique said.
“They are the perfect role models and a great
example of leading us in the faith,” Alexandra
said.
“It’s been a great journey so far,” Fr Jeremy said.
“This parish is one of the most vibrant and the
most active in terms of practicing the faith, and
it’s a great witness for us as the priests to see
that people want to come here to receive the
sacraments and a deeper nourishing of the faith.
(L-R) Parishioners Monique Kairouz, Alexandra Azzi and Tony Bougoide with Assistant
Priest Fr Jeremy Santoso OSPPE at St Margaret Mary’s Parish, Merrylands. Image:
Mary Brazell/Diocese of Parramatta
“I like the youth programs we have in the parish,
and the more I interact with them, the more I see
that this parish has a big future ahead of them.”
Joy of the Risen Lord
With Holy Week on the horizon, we asked the
parish members how they feel they can live the
joy of the Resurrection in their everyday lives.
“When we meditate on the Passion of Jesus
Christ, we are given a moment to know that we
have been given a gift of forgiveness. The Body
and Blood of Jesus Christ on the cross is a down
payment to justify that each and every one of us
is forgiven,” Fr Jeremy said.
Tony said, “When you wake up in the
morning, and you submit your life
completely – your actions, reactions,
aspirations, hopes, needs, wants, pain
and suffering – to Christ, He will not
let you down.
“We are born with a mission statement written
in our hearts. Sometimes, we don’t take enough
time to read what’s meant for us, what’s God’s
will for us. And unless we trust and believe in the
Resurrection and live that feeling, we will never
read that mission statement.”
Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv, Bishop of Parramatta (left) with
Parish Priest Fr Wojciech Silwa OSPPE (centre) and Assistant Priest
Fr Jeremy Santoso OSPPE following Fr Wojciech’s installation Mass
at St Margaret Mary’s Parish, Merrylands. Image: Supplied.
53

Kids Corner
Make your own Easter Cross
• 2 twigs of different sizes:
approximately 15cm & 9cm
• Thread: coloured wool or string
30cm in length for each cross
1. Create a paper tag with
these words:
He is not here, he has risen.
I am the Resurrection and the Life.
Alleluia, He is risen.
Behold the Lamb of God. John 1:29
Jesus is Lord.
2. Tie the paper tag
around the cross.
THANK YOU TO THE CONFRATERNITY OF
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE, DIOCESE OF PARRAMATTA.
Images: White Gunpowder
54

Easter Word Fill-in:
Fill in the blanks below with words from the word bank to reveal
the joyous message of Easter. Use each word only once.
WORD BANK
Resurrection
Triumph
Renewal
Sacrifice
Redemption
Crucifixion
Grace
Alleluia
Transformation
On Easter Sunday, we celebrate the _________ of Jesus,
which Flls our hearts with hope and joy.
The empty tomb is a powerful symbol of the ____________
of life over death.
Through His ____________ on the cross, Jesus showed us
the depth of His love and ____________ for our sins.
The Easter season is a time of spiritual ____________ and
a chance for personal ____________.
As we reflect on the events of Good Friday, we remember
the solemnity of Jesus' ____________.
The Easter season is a time to embrace the ____________
that comes from knowing Jesus has conquered sin and
death.
Let us shout ____________ as we celebrate the glorious
truth of Christ's resurrection!
EASTER
MAZE
55

The Aboriginal Gift: Spirituality
for a Nation
by Fr Eugene Stockton
"The Aboriginal Gift: Spirituality for a Nation" by Eugene Stockton offers a
captivating exploration of Indigenous spirituality, drawing from extensive
interactions with First Nations people and rigorous academic research. Stockton
delves into the core of Aboriginal belief systems, emphasising their profound
connection to creation and the land. He contrasts this holistic worldview with the
individualistic ethos of modern Western capitalism, showcasing how Aboriginal
ceremonies are not merely religious rituals but active engagements in sustaining
the balance of the universe.
Through poignant narratives and profound insights, Stockton illuminates the enduring resilience of Aboriginal
spirituality, even in the face of urbanisation and cultural challenges. He underscores the sacredness of life itself
in Indigenous perspectives, challenging readers to reconsider traditional Western dichotomies between the
sacred and the profane. "The Aboriginal Gift" offers readers a profound journey into a spiritual paradigm rooted in
interconnectedness, reverence for creation, and mutual respect, making it an essential read for anyone interested in
understanding and appreciating Indigenous wisdom.
56

Prayer is Life
Hosted by Redemptorist priest Father David Hore
CSsR. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and the
Majellan Media website.
Majellan Media's new podcast series, "Prayer is Life,"
hosted by Redemptorist priest Father David Hore
CSsR, delves into the transformative power of prayer
in our daily lives. In a year dedicated to prayer by
Pope Francis, this podcast offers a timely exploration
of prayer as a universal practice, accessible to all
individuals regardless of faith background.
Fr Hore invites listeners to embark on a journey of
reflection and discovery, exploring topics such as new
approaches to prayer, the intersection of prayer and
daily life, and the challenges and joys of cultivating
a prayerful existence. Drawing upon personal
experiences and the wisdom of St Alphonsus Liguori,
the series aims to deepen listeners' understanding of
prayer and its significance in fostering relationships
with oneself, others, and the divine. With its inclusive
approach, "Prayer is Life" seeks to engage both
believers and non-believers alike in the enriching
practice of prayer.
The Passion of the Christ
RATED MA 15+ - Strong violence
Watch on Stan
The Passion plunges you into the final twelve hours
of Jesus' life, starting with his anguished prayer in
Gethsemane. Betrayal chills the air as Judas delivers
Jesus to the authorities. Witness the escalating torment:
the mob's jeers, the unjust trial, the brutal scourging,
and the agonising crown of thorns.
Mary, his mother, shares his suffering at every turn,
her pain mirrored in her eyes. Flashbacks punctuate
the narrative, offering glimpses of Jesus' teachings
and miracles, highlighting the stark contrast with His
present ordeal.
The journey to Calvary becomes a heavy burden,
physically and emotionally. The weight of the cross, the
relentless taunts, the sheer exhaustion - each element
amplifies His sacrifice. The crucifixion unfolds in graphic
detail, leaving no room for sugarcoating the barbarity.
Even in His final moments, Jesus offers forgiveness
and compassion. His death plunges the world into
darkness, but hope flickers. The film concludes with the
joyous news of the resurrection, reminding viewers of
the ultimate triumph over suffering and death.
57

Holy Week Mass times across the
Diocese of Parramatta
As we enter Holy Week, we invite you to join our local communities
for this special time of renewal and hope.
BAULKHAM HILLS PARISH
St Michael’s, Baulkham Hills
Palm Sunday: 5.30pm Vigil,
8am, 10am, 6pm
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 10am, 6pm
Our Lady of Lourdes,
Baulkham Hills South
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 9.30am,
11.30am (Korean)
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 10.30am (Stations), 3pm,
7pm (Stations) (Korean)
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 9.30am, 11.30am
(Korean)
BLACKHEATH PARISH
(SACRED HEART)
Palm Sunday: 9.30am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 9.30am
BLACKTOWN PARISH
(MARY, QUEEN OF THE FAMILY)
St Patrick’s, Blacktown
Palm Sunday: 5.30pm Vigil, 7am, 10am,
5.30pm
Holy Thursday: 9am (Lauds Morning
Prayer), 7.30pm, 10pm (Compline Night
Prayer)
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7.30pm
Easter Sunday: 7am, 10am, 5.30pm
CASTLE HILL PARISH
(ST BERNADETTE’S)
Palm Sunday: 5pm Vigil, 7.30am, 9am,
10.30am, 6pm
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 9.30am (Stations), 12pm
(Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 11am (Blessing of the
Easter food), 7pm
Easter Sunday: 7.30am, 9am, 10.30am,
6pm
CRANEBROOK PARISH
(CORPUS CHRISTI)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 7.30am,
9.30am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 7.30am, 9.30am
DOONSIDE PARISH
(ST JOHN VIANNEY)
Palm Sunday: 6.30pm Vigil, 7.30am,
9.30am, 11am (Melkite)
Holy Thursday: 8pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 6.30pm
Easter Sunday: 7.30am, 9.30am, 11am
(Melkite)
DUNDAS VALLEY PARISH
(ST BERNADETTE’S)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 8am, 10am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7.30pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 10am
EMU PLAINS PARISH
St Michael’s, Blacktown South
(OUR LADY OF THE WAY)
Palm Sunday: 8am, 9.30am
Good Friday: 3pm
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 8am, 9.30am
Easter Sunday: 8am, 9.30am
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
These Christmas Mass times are correct as of the time of print.
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 9.30am
GLENBROOK PARISH
(ST FINBAR’S)
Palm Sunday: 5.30pm Vigil, 7.30am,
9.30am
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7.30pm
Easter Sunday: 7.30am, 9.30am
GLENMORE PARK PARISH
(ST PADRE PIO)
Palm Sunday: 5.30pm Vigil, 8am, 10am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 10am
GLENWOOD-STANHOPE GARDENS
PARISH (ST JOHN XXIII)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 7.30am, 9am,
10.30am, 6pm
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7.30pm
Easter Sunday: 7.30am, 9am, 10.30am,
6pm
GRANVILLE PARISH
(HOLY CROSS PARISH)
Holy Trinity, Granville
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 10am
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 10.30am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 8pm
Easter Sunday: 10am
Holy Family, Granville East
Palm Sunday: 4.30pm Vigil, 8.30am,
5pm
Holy Thursday: 6pm
Good Friday: 9.15am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 6pm
Easter Sunday: 8.30am, 5pm
58
These Holy Week Mass times are correct as of the time of print.
Please visit our website parracatholic.org for more information.

GREYSTANES PARISH
(OUR LADY, QUEEN OF PEACE)
LALOR PARK PARISH
(ST BERNADETTE’S)
MERRYLANDS PARISH
(ST MARGARET MARY’S)
Palm Sunday: 5pm Vigil, 7am, 8.30am,
10.30am, 6pm
Holy Thursday: 8pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 8pm
Easter Sunday: 7am, 8.30am, 10.30am
GUILDFORD PARISH
(ST PATRICK’S)
Palm Sunday: 5.30pm Vigil, 8am, 10am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm,
7pm (Vigil at the Tomb)
Holy Saturday: 6pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 10am
HARRIS PARK PARISH
(ST OLIVER PLUNKETT)
Palm Sunday: 5.30pm Vigil, 8am, 10am
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7.30pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 10am
KELLYVILLE PARISH
(OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 7am, 9am,
11am, 6pm
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 11am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 8pm
Easter Sunday: 7am, 9am, 11am
KENTHURST PARISH
(ST MADELEINE SOPHIE BARAT)
Palm Sunday: 5.30pm Vigil, 8am, 10am,
5.30pm
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 5.30pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 10am, 5.30pm
KINGSWOOD PARISH
(ST JOSEPH’S)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 8.30am, 10am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 11am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7.30pm
Easter Sunday: 8.30am, 10am
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 8.30am, 10am
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 6pm
Easter Sunday: 8.30am, 10am
LAWSON PARISH
(OUR LADY OF THE NATIVITY)
Palm Sunday: 5pm Vigil, 8.30am, 4pm
(Latin Mass)
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 5pm
Easter Sunday: 8.30am, 11am (Latin
Mass)
LUDDENHAM-WARRAGAMBA
PARISH (SACRED HEART)
Holy Family, Luddenham
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 7.30am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 10am
Sacred Heart, Warragamba
Palm Sunday: 9.30am
Good Friday: 10am (Stations)
Easter Sunday: 8.30am
MARAYONG PARISH
(ST ANDREW THE APOSTLE)
Palm Sunday: 5pm Vigil, 7.30am,
8.45am, 10.30am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7.30pm
Easter Sunday: 7.30am, 8.45am,
10.30am
MARSDEN PARK PAROCHIAL
DISTRICT (ST LUKE’S)
Palm Sunday: 10am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 10am
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 7.30am, 9am,
10.30am, 6pm
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 6.30pm
Easter Sunday: 7.30am, 9am, 10.30am,
6pm
MOUNT DRUITT PARISH
(HOLY FAMILY)
Holy Family Church, Emerton
Palm Sunday: 5.30pm Vigil, 9am,
10.30am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7.30pm
Easter Sunday: 9am, 10.30am
Willmot Community Hub, Willmot
Palm Sunday: 7.30am
Easter Sunday: 7.30am
MOUNT DRUITT SOUTH PARISH
(SACRED HEART)
Palm Sunday: 7.30am, 9am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 7.30am, 9am
NORTH ROCKS PARISH
(CHRIST THE KING)
Palm Sunday: 5.30pm Vigil, 8am, 10am
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 6.30pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 10am
PARRAMATTA PARISH
(ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 8am, 9.30am,
11am, 6pm
Holy Thursday: 7:30pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7.30pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 9.30am, 11am,
6pm
These Holy Week Mass times are correct as of the time of print.
Please visit our website parracatholic.org for more information.
59

PARRAMATTA NORTH PARISH
(ST MONICA’S)
Palm Sunday: 5pm Vigil (English), 9am
(English), 11.30am (Cantonese), 6pm
(English)
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm (English and
Cantonese)
Good Friday: 10am (Stations – English),
11.30am (Stations – Cantonese), 3pm
(English), 5.30pm (Cantonese)
Holy Saturday: 6pm (English), 8.30pm
(Cantonese)
Easter Sunday: 9am (English), 11.30am
(Cantonese), 6pm (English)
PENRITH PARISH
(ST NICHOLAS OF MYRA)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 7am, 8.30am,
10am, 6pm
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 7am, 8.30am, 10am,
6pm
PLUMPTON PARISH
(THE GOOD SHEPHERD)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 7am, 9am,
6pm
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm,
6pm (Vietnamese)
Holy Saturday: 7.30pm
Easter Sunday: 7am, 9am, 12pm
(Vietnamese)
QUAKERS HILL-SCHOFIELDS
PARISH (MARY IMMACULATE)
Palm Sunday: 5.30pm Vigil, 7.30am,
9am, 10.30am, 12.30pm, 5.30pm
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 8am (Morning Prayer),
9am (Primary School Stations), 10am
(Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7.30pm
Easter Sunday: 7.30am, 9am, 10.30am,
12.30pm, 5.30pm
PARISH OF RICHMOND
St Monica’s, Richmond
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 7.30am,
9.30am, 5.30pm
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 7.30am, 9.30am,
5.30pm
St Gregory’s, Kurrajong
Palm Sunday: 8am
Good Friday: 10am (Stations)
Easter Sunday: 8am
RIVERSTONE PARISH
(ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST)
Palm Sunday: 7am, 9am, 10.30am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 7am, 9am, 10.30am
ROOTY HILL PARISH
(ST AIDAN’S)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 7.30am, 9am,
10.30am, 5.30pm
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 7.30am, 9am, 10.30am,
5.30pm
ROUSE HILL PARISH
(OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS)
Our Lady of the Angels, Rouse Hill
Palm Sunday: 5.30pm Vigil, 8.30am,
10am, 5.30pm
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 8.30am, 10am, 5.30pm
Santa Sophia Catholic College, Box Hill
Palm Sunday: 11.30am
Good Friday: 3pm
Easter Sunday: 11.30am
RYDALMERE PARISH
(HOLY NAME OF MARY)
SEVEN HILLS PARISH
(OUR LADY OF LOURDES)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 8am, 9.30am
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 6pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 9.30am
SPRINGWOOD PARISH
(ST THOMAS AQUINAS)
Palm Sunday: 5pm Vigil, 8am, 9.30am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 9.30am
ST CLAIR-ERSKINE PARK PARISH
(HOLY SPIRIT)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 8am, 9.30am,
6pm
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 6.30pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 9.30am
ST MARYS PARISH
(OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 7.30am, 9am,
10.30am, 5.30pm
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 9am (Morning Prayer and
Readings), 11am (Passion Play), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 9am (Morning Prayer
and Readings), 8pm
Easter Sunday: 7.30am, 9am, 10.30am
TOONGABBIE PARISH
(ST ANTHONY OF PADUA)
Palm Sunday: 5.30pm Vigil, 8am, 10am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am, 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 10am
Palm Sunday: 5.30pm Vigil, 8am, 10am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 9.30am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 5.30pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 10am
60
These Holy Week Mass times are correct as of the time of print.
Please visit our website parracatholic.org for more information.

UPPER BLUE MOUNTAINS
PARISH (ST MARY OF THE CROSS
MACKILLOP)
St Canice’s, Katoomba
Palm Sunday: 10am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 10am
St Bonaventure’s, Leura
Palm Sunday: 5pm Vigil, 5pm
Good Friday: 9.30am (Stations)
Easter Sunday: 8.30am
St Francis Xavier, Wentworth Falls
Palm Sunday: 8am
Good Friday: 9am (Stations)
Easter Sunday: 8am
WENTWORTHVILLE PARISH
(OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 8am, 10am,
6pm
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 9am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7:30pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 10am
WESTMEAD PARISH
(SACRED HEART)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 8am, 9.30am
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 9.30am
WINDSOR PARISH
(ST MATTHEW’S)
Palm Sunday: 6pm Vigil, 7.30am,
9am, 5pm
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 6pm
Easter Sunday: 7.30am, 9am
WINSTON HILLS PARISH
(ST PAUL THE APOSTLE)
Palm Sunday: 5pm Vigil, 8am,
9.30am, 5pm
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 8am, 9.30am
CHAPLAINCIES:
KOREAN CATHOLIC COMMUNITY
(OUR LADY OF LOURDES CHURCH, BAULKHAM HILLS)
Palm Sunday: 11.30am
Good Friday: 7pm (Stations and Celebration of Lord’s Passion)
Easter Sunday: 11.30am
SLOVENIAN CATHOLIC COMMUNITY
(ST RAPHAEL’S SLOVENIAN CATHOLIC
CHURCH, MERRYLANDS)
Palm Sunday: 7pm Vigil, 9.30am
Holy Thursday: 5pm
Good Friday: 3pm
Holy Saturday: 7pm
Easter Sunday: 8am
CHINESE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY
(ST MONICA’S PARISH, NORTH PARRAMATTA)
Palm Sunday: 11.30am (Cantonese)
Holy Thursday: 7.30pm
Good Friday: 11.30am (Stations – Cantonese), 5.30pm
Holy Saturday: 8.30pm
Easter Sunday: 11.30am
LATIN MASS CHAPLAINCY
(CROATIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH HALL, BLACKTOWN,
UNLESS SPECIFIED)
Palm Sunday: 7:15am (St Mark’s Coptic Catholic Church, Prospect),
10.30am, 4pm (Our Lady of the Nativity Parish, Lawson)
Holy Thursday: 7pm
Good Friday: 10am (Stations), 3pm
Holy Saturday: 8.30pm
Easter Sunday: 7:45am (St Mark’s Coptic Catholic Church, Prospect),
10am, 11am (Our Lady of the Nativity Parish, Lawson)
These Holy Week Mass times are correct as of the time of print.
Please visit our website parracatholic.org for more information.
61

Directory of services
(02) 8843 2500 or visit catholiccarewsbm.org.au
Chancery Office
www.parracatholic.org
(02) 8838 3400
diocese@parracatholic.org
Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv
(02) 8838 3400
bishop@parracatholic.org
Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
parra.catholic.edu.au
(02) 9840 5600
communityliaison@parra.catholic.edu.au
Community Ventures
(Catholic Diocese of Parramatta
Services Limited)
1300 2VENTURES (1300 283 688)
enquiries@cdpsl.org.au
www.communityventures.org.au
Ambrose Early Years Education
and School Age Care
1300 4AMBROSE (1300 426 276)
enquiries@ambrose.org.au
www.ambrose.org.au
Catholic Care Western Sydney
and the Blue Mountains
(02) 8843 2500
catholiccarewsbm.org.au
Mission Enhancement Team
(MET Parramatta)
Catholic Youth Parramatta;
Peace, Justice, Ecology; Marriage;
Natural Fertility; Worship;
MET Facilitators
met@parracatholic.org
parracatholic.org/connect
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine
(02) 8838 3486
ccd@parracatholic.org
Tribunal Office
(02) 8838 3480
tribunal@parracatholic.org
Vocations
(02) 8838 3460
vocations@parracatholic.org
Parramatta Catholic Foundation
(02) 8838 3482
yourfoundation@parracatholic.org
Diocesan Development Fund
(02) 8839 4500
enquiries@parraddf.org.au
Holy Spirit Seminary
(02) 9296 6300
Office for Safeguarding
(02) 8838 3419
safeguarding@parracatholic.org
Ageing Well
Whatever your age, you will never be invisible to the people at Catholic Care. Our range of
supports aim to keep you living independently in your own home for as long as possible,
while staying connected with your friends and community.
Our Commonwealth Home Support Program support elderly people to stay living
independently at home, while our Community Visitor’s Scheme aims to reduce loneliness
and enrich people’s lives through fortnightly visits to residents at aged-care facilities.
Bringing a baby into the world
There are few things more important than caring for a newborn child. Our programs have helped
many young women who are feeling lost or have been excluded from their community and are
at risk of homelessness, to get the support they need. Our parenting support program supports
new parents finding the challenges of a newborn overwhelming.
Chaplaincy
Our chaplains provide spiritual and emotional support for patients and inmates, their
families and staff in the seven hospitals and three correctional centres throughout the
Diocese of Parramatta. An inclusive ministry available to all faiths, our 15 chaplains work
alongside others involved in the care of patients and inmates.
Children
Catholic Care offers a range of support services to ensure children are taken care of in any
situation. It starts with early years learning and childcare — our home-based early learning and
parenting program for families with young children helps them and their parents develop skills,
and our family day care helps kids get a good start with their education. Our creche is a thriving
early learning centre, providing care for children of Sudanese refugee women enrolled in English
classes offered on the grounds of Catholic Care.
Connecting with my Community
Our drop-in centres provide a safe place for people to belong and connect with others.
They are a place to be, a place to get information, join a group, and be accepted.
In Emerton, Aboriginal Catholic Services is a drop-in centre led by Aboriginal people for
Aboriginal people. In Blacktown, culturally and linguistically diverse families are accessing
support to settle into life in Australia by the team at All Saints of Africa. And at our Springwood
Drop-in Centre, established to support the community after the 2014 bushfires, clients stop by
for a chat, join a reading group or seek support with their mental health.
Living well with Disability
We all need a support network to live our lives to the fullest. Our disability support team, can
help you with living, learning and overcoming obstacles on your journey, whatever they may
look like. We can help you set goals, and achieve them, and help you build a brighter future.
As a registered National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider, we support clients
at home and in the community, whether you want to learn how to cook, need support with
personal care, or want to play sport.
Support for my Family
When life gets tough for our families, the people we care about most can suffer. Our range
of family support services can support you to better relate to your spouse and understand
their behaviour, to deal with dependence or gambling problems, single parenting, or just
connecting with your kids.
We support families who are going through the most difficult of times to cope through
separation, and with grief and loss. We help parents deal with all the stresses that can
impact your family, from anxiety and depression to money worries, gambling—we have the
people, the resources and the support to help you make it through.
62

Latest appointments
Most Rev Vincent Long OFM Conv, Bishop of
Parramatta, has confirmed these appointments in
the Diocese of Parramatta:
Rev Albino Dos Santos OCarm
Assistant Priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish,
Wentworthville, as of 29 January 2024.
Rev John Hogan
Administrator at Sacred Heart Parish, Westmead,
as of 17 February 2024.
Rev David Austin OSA
Administrator at Holy Spirit Parish, St Clair-Erskine Park,
as of 1 March 2024.
A time to renew your spirit
Queen of Peace
Medjugorje Pilgrimage
Footsteps of St
Mary MacKillop
Melbourne to Adelaide
the genuine pilgrim experience
Great Saints of Italy
Rome to Venice
Land only from $3690
Land only from $4590 Land only from $6990
Commences 01 October 2024.
10 Days. With Fr Andrew Grace
Healings, miracles and conversions –
these have been occurring for so long.
Endless streams of pilgrims over the years
have come to receive these graces and
return to their homelands renewed.
Also departs September 2024.
Departs 10 October 2024.
11 Days. With Fr David Catterall.
Set out together on a true Australian
Pilgrimage through the life and times of
Mary MacKillop, as we rekindle the story,
landscapes and spirit of our nations’ first
Saint. Feast Day in Penola.
Also departs August 2024.
Commences 21 October 2024. 12 Days.
With Fr Christopher del Rosario.
Stunning landscapes, picturesque towns
and peaceful shrines like Assisi, Siena
and Florence await. Explore the rich
tapestry of culture, faith, art, and history
that Italy offers.
Also departs September 2024.
BOOKINGS & ENQUIRIES
1800 819 156
www.harvestjourneys.com

“The new digital payment system organised by
the Diocesan Development Fund has allowed us to
reach a diverse range of givers on a wide range of
payment platforms. It makes fundraising events easier
to organise. Payments for facilities hire, donations
for weddings and other sacraments are received
promptly.” – Mili Lee, Manager, St Patrick’s Cathedral Parramatta
Quest Terminal
MAKING DONATIONS EASIER
THROUGH DIGITAL PLATFORMS
Through its partnership with the Commonwealth Bank, the Diocesan Development Fund
(DDF) is offering digital payment systems to all Catholic entities including parishes, schools
and agencies.
Making it easier for people to donate in today’s cashless society, online payment platforms
including tap-to-donate solutions such as CommBank Smart device and Quest terminals
reduce the amount of cash you need to keep on premises and make reconciling easier.
Merchant facilities are provided through the Commonwealth Bank.
The Diocesan Development Fund (DDF) provides financial services that helps to promote
the continued growth and development of a vibrant and evangelising Catholic Church in
the Diocese of Parramatta.
Smart Device
The DDF’s services include:
• Providing loans to assist Catholic agencies to further their Mission. Loans are available for any worthwhile purpose including
construction, renovation, land purchase, furnishings, and equipment.
• Facilitating transactional services to Catholic agencies such as parishes and schools.
• Operating efficiently to generate income for the Diocese to support the Mission of the Church, pastoral priorities, and ministry
programmes.
• The development of deep long-term relationships with all Catholic entities within the Diocese.
To contact the DDF please phone (02) 8839 4500 or email enquiries@parraddf.org.au
Visit the DDF website at www.parracatholic.org/ddf
Disclosure Statement: The Diocesan Development Fund Catholic Diocese of Parramatta (DDF) (the Fund) is required by law to make the following disclosure.
The Fund is not prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities
and Investments Commission. An investor in the Fund will not receive the benefit of the financial claims scheme or thedepositor protection provisions in the
Banking Act 1959 (Cth). Investments in the Fund are intended to be a means for investors to support the charitable, religious and educational works of the
Catholic Diocese of Parramatta and for whom the consideration of profit are not of primary relevance in the investment decision. The investments that the
Fund offers are not subject to the usual protections for investors under the Corporations Act (Cth) or regulation by Australian Securities and Investments
Commission. Investors may be unable to get some or all of their money back when the investor expects or at all and an of the Fund are not comparable to
investments with banks, finance companies or fund managers. The Fund’s identification statement may be viewed at https://parracatholic.org or by contacting
the Fund. The Fund does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.